An elliptical case, between a circle and a rectangle. A dial in blue gold, with gold hands and hour markers floating over its depths. When it first appeared in 1968, Patek Philippe’s golden Ellipse was a bold departure from traditional watch shapes. But far from bowing to fashion, this innovative watch had a sense of inner harmony that was very pleasing to the eye. Its design was inspired by the principle of the “golden section” discovered by the ancient greek mathematicians. This “divine” proportion, expressed as a ratio of 1 / 1.6180, forms the basis of some of history’s greatest works of art and architecture.

A descendant of the famous Patek Philippe World Time watches launched during the 1930s — and which have become cult models among keen travelers and collectors — Reference 5230 was introduced in 2016. For the first time, Patek Philippe is interpreting this cosmopolitan timepiece in a platinum case combined with a blue dial and strap. The dial center is adorned with a new circular hand-guilloched motif. The ultrathin self-winding movement with its two city and 24-hour rotating disks serves to keep simultaneous and permanent track of the time in all 24 time zones.

Thanks to an ingenious mechanism patented in 1999, the user can simultaneously correct all the World Time displays in one-hour increments by simply pressing the pusher at 10 o’clock.

Patek Philippe’s legendary reputation is its most precious possession. It is bolstered by precision and tradition. Experts laud the company’s ateliers in Plan-les-Ouates near Geneva as unparalleled paragons of excellence. Even though the facilities are equipped with machines at the cutting edge of technology, most of the work is done manually by superbly trained watchmakers. Patek Philippe only uses ébauches, cases and essential components that have been produced in-house. Its 21 basic calibres are modified to create 45 distinct designs. Each movement is assigned an individual number before it is archived. This ensures that every single watch remains clearly identifiable in future.