Elite Traveler January-February 2017

INFLUENCE WATCHES COLUMN

elite traveler JAN/FEB 2017 57

Whether you're jetting off around the world on business, or you need to know if it's a good time tomake that call to China, a world-time watch keeps you on track. Undoubtedly useful as well as complicated and beautiful Roberta Naas on world-time watches

cities on the outer portion of the dial. An inner 24-hour ring is colored light blue to indicate day and dark blue to indicate night, and offers time and day/ night indications in the second zone. The center of the dial features a stunning enamel world map motif. Similarly, Chopard’s recently unveiled L.U.C Time Traveler One operates on the same concept – using concentric layers to indicate the time. Offered in steel, rose gold or platinum, it features the city names on the outer portion of the dial, with an inner 24-hour ring, followed by the local time indication ring that offers the hours and the minutes (on a railway track), and finally a center ring that displays the date in the local time zone. The times and settings are adjusted using two crowns, one for the local time and one for the reference cities and 24-hour indications. The watch is powered by a self-winding Montblanc’s 4810 Orbis Terrarum is laid out a bit differently. It features an outer railroad-track-style ring to indicate local minutes, followed by the 24-hour indication ring (light and dark for am/pm), and the innermost ring displays the reference time zone city names. The center of the dial features a brightly painted map of the world as seen from above the North Pole. The map is created using a series of colored disks; light blue to show the continents, dark blue for night, gradient yellow and green indicates daytime. The disk rotates in sync with the 24-hour ring. Local time adjustments are made from the button at 8, while the world time is set from the crown at 3. The 43mm stainless steel watch is powered by a self-winding mechanical movement. These complicated and intriguing watches make a grand statement about your sense of the world and if you’re traveling the globe or working 24/7, you will want one of these on your wrist. Roberta Naas is an American journalist who has covered timepieces for more than 30 years. She is the founder of ATimelyPerspective.com, author of six books on the subject and contributing writer for many publications mechanical movement and is a COSC-certified chronometer.

(Top) Patek Philippe World Time Ref. 5131R in rose gold $68,040, available at Patek Philippe Boutique at Geary’s Beverly Hills, Daniel Chen, manager, +1 310 887 4250 patekphilippe.com (Above) Chopard L.U.C Time Traveler One in platinum $35,200, available at Chopard in New York, +1 212 223 2304, chopard.com (Below) Montblanc 4810 Orbis Terrarum in stainless steel $5,900, available at Montblanc in New York, +1 212 381 7430, montblanc.com

One of the more intriguing types of watches currently on the market is the world timer. As everyone today is busy, traveling, working and on the go, knowing time around the world may be a necessity for many and having that information immediately available with a glance at the wrist is a great advantage. Even more important, though, is the fact that most of today’s world-time watches are simply beautiful. Indeed, as more brands turn their attention from simply offering two or three time zones to indicating time around the world – sophistication and elegance become paramount. Watch brands are investing a great deal into the development of advanced mechanisms that make world-time watches easier to use (via instant-set buttons or simple time zone changes) and that offer more information than ever before. The concept of world-time differentiation dates back to 1883, when standard time was fixed in London. A line was drawn at every 15 degrees longitude on the map, creating 24 different international time zones.

Each zone differs from the preceding and following zone by an hour. By referring to a map and making minimal calculations seafarers, and later pilots, could calculate time differences. A world-time watch takes the calculation out of the equation. A complex timepiece to build, the world-time watch generally indicates the time in the world’s 24 key cities via a ring on the dial that shows the city names. Typically, the watch is set to a time in a certain city and then also offers 24-hour time or am/pm indications to show whether it is night or day in the other location. Through complex mechanics, the time in the corresponding city is displayed in either an opposite aperture, or via a pointer calendar – depending on the design of the watch. Often these watches sport a globe, a map or longitude lines. A particularly sophisticated piece, Patek Philippe’s World Time Ref. 5131R operates off a single-button mechanism. Housing a technically advanced mechanical movement equipped with a patented mechanism, the watch features the 24 reference time zone