Patek Philippe World Timers: Customizing Your Ideal City Dial

countzero · 2020-07-11T22:36:26Z

Explore the fascinating debate on which cities belong on a world timer dial. WatchProSite members discuss personal choices, brand variations, and the historical context of Patek Philippe and other luxury watch world timers.

countzero

WPS member · Horological Meandering forum

51 replies13747 views2 photos

In a thought-provoking discussion, countzero invites WatchProSite members to reimagine the classic world timer. This article delves into the personal and practical considerations behind selecting cities for a world time complication, moving beyond standard configurations to explore what truly resonates with collectors. It highlights the blend of personal preference, historical context, and horological tradition that shapes these intricate dials.

Inspired by some recent discussion (in the comments to a post on Patek Philippe 5230G Mexico limited edition), I thought it could be fun/interesting to ask our members the following:

- If you could choose from the scratch, which city names would you select for your (actual or hypothetical) world timer? Or would you rather prefer e.g. airport codes instead of city names (and if so, which ones)?

To set the stage and for reference, below is one set of typical city names, as seen e.g. on Patek Philippe 5110. You could post just the time zones you would change, or a complete list.

UTC+12: Auckland (New Zealand)

UTC+11: Noumea (New Caledonia) [France]

UTC+10: Sydney (Australia)

UTC+9: Tokyo (Japan)

UTC+8: Hong Kong (Hong Kong S.A.R.) [China]

UTC+7: Bangkok (Thailand)

UTC+6: Dhaka (Bangladesh)

UTC+5: Karachi (Pakistan)

UTC+4: Dubai (U.A.E.)

UTC+3: Moscow (Russia)

UTC+2: Cairo (Egypt)

UTC+1: Paris (France)

UTC+0: London (UK)

UTC-1: Azores [Portugal]

UTC-2: South Georgia [UK]

UTC-3: Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

UTC-4: Caracas (Venezuela)

UTC-5: New York City, NY (U.S.)

UTC-6: Mexico City (Mexico)

UTC-7: Denver, CO (U.S.)

UTC-8: Los Angeles, CA (U.S.)

UTC-9: Anchorage, AK (U.S.)

UTC-10: Hawaii (U.S.)

UTC-11: Midway Islands [U.S.]

For completeness, I have added the country/region to which the city belongs to in parentheses. Note that in the case of some smaller places, the name is actually not that of a city but of the whole territory (e.g. Azores, Hawaii). Brackets ([ ]) indicate that the area belongs to the country in brackets, but is an autonomous region / not part of the country proper.

Note also that certain (major) countries/cities become automatically left out from a standard classical world timer because they use non-standard (non-full hour) offsets to UTC, e.g. India with UTC+5:30.

Photo credit: Phillips (I'm sure Nicolas could post a better picture!)

Picture credit: Wikipedia (link to the original bigger version)

Key Points from the Discussion

Many brands, including Nomos, TX, A. Lange & Söhne, and Mühle Glashütte, feature diverse city choices for their UTC+2 time zone, such as Athens, Beirut, or Cairo, demonstrating a lack of universal standardization.
The selection of cities on a world timer often reflects market relevance and historical economic ties, with some countries being omitted due to changing geopolitical and economic landscapes.
Some collectors prioritize cities they personally enjoy or have a connection to, rather than strictly adhering to traditional horological choices, leading to highly personalized world timer configurations.
The length of a city name can influence its inclusion on a world timer dial, with shorter names like 'Rio' often preferred over longer ones like 'Buenos Aires' for aesthetic and legibility reasons.
Some high-end brands, such as Vacheron Constantin through their Atelier Cabinotiers, offer bespoke services that allow collectors to customize the city names on their world timer dials, albeit at a significant premium.
The company Vogard innovated world timers by developing watches capable of displaying half-hour time zones and Daylight Saving Time, a patent later acquired by IWC for their Timezoner models.

The Discussion

countzero

Jul 11, 2020

UTC+12: Auckland UTC+11: Noumea UTC+10: Sydney UTC+9: Seoul * UTC+8: Hong Kong UTC+7: Bangkok UTC+6: Dhaka UTC+5: Karachi UTC+4: Dubai UTC+3: Moscow UTC+2: Helsinki * UTC+1: Geneva * UTC+0: London UTC-1: Azores UTC-2: South Georgia UTC-3: Rio UTC-4: Bermuda * UTC-5: New York UTC-6: Chicago * UTC-7: Denver UTC-8: Los Angeles UTC-9: Anchorage UTC-10: Hawaii UTC-11: Midway UTC+1 is a particularly difficult one with several major European cities. In particular, it's difficult to drop Paris, but (unf

Gelato Monster

Jul 12, 2020

UTC+12: Matakana (New Zealand) UTC+11: Magadatan (Russia) UTC+10: Sydney (Australia) UTC+9: Tokyo (Japan) UTC+8: Ubud [Indonesia] UTC+7: Hanoi (Vietnam) UTC+6: Almaty (Kazahkstan) UTC+5: Hulhumale (Maldives) UTC+4: Medina (Saudi Arabia) UTC+3: Moscow (Russia) UTC+2: Luxor (Egypt) UTC+1: Nimes (France) UTC+0: Edinburgh (UK) UTC-1: Azores [Portugal] UTC-2: Dakar [Senegal] UTC-3: Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) UTC-4: Caracas (Venezuela) UTC-5: New York City, NY (U.S.) UTC-6: Oaxaca (Mexico) UTC-7: Tucson,

patrick_y

Jul 12, 2020

I'm good with all of them. It's simply knowing which cities are in similar timezones as other cities. For instance, Riyadh is a very important city, but so is Moscow. I just need to remember that the two and Istanbul are all in the same timezone. I constantly think Riyadh, UAE, Qatar, and Oman are in the same timezone, I then remember that Saudi Arabia is a different timezone. The good thing about Hong Kong is that we all know China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are one timezone. Which makes it fairly

countzero

Jul 12, 2020

I must say I could easily replace Dhaka at UTC+6 and Karachi at UTC+5 as well, but these being in Bangladesh and Pakistan, respectively, help to remind of the time in Mumbai and New Delhi (at UTC+5:30). For UTC-8 it's a toss between LA and San Francisco.

countzero

Jul 12, 2020

For many of the time zones there are several (almost) equally good candidates, as is the case with some of those you pointed out. However, personally I would like to see cities that also have some special meaning or connection - be it due to business, family, friends, preferred vacation spots, or the like.

patrick_y

Jul 12, 2020

They looked at historical significance, population significance, travel/tourism significance, and financial hub significance. They even took into consideration political stability, which countries were unlikely to change what timezeone they were a part of. I think Caracas might've changed at one point. And now they don't have Caracas on the current TimeZone if I recall correctly.

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