One of the biggest watch-world stories from 2017 was Patek Philippe’s historic “Art of Watches Grand Exhibition” in New York and the limited-edition timepieces that debuted there, and one of the most talked-about watches that emerged from that collection was the World Time Minute Repeater Ref. 5531R, limited to just two series of five pieces each, with special New York-themed, cloisonné enamel dials. Today, to kick off Baselworld 2018, Patek Philippe unveiled a new version of that ultra-complicated model that will become part of its regular collection, alongside a new, manual-winding chronograph for ladies that will replace the discontinued Ref. 7071. Read on to learn more about both timepieces.
The new Patek Philippe Ref. 5531R World Time Minute Repeater Like its limited-edition predecessors ? all 10 of which, we’re told, were sold before the Grand Exhibition packed up and left the Big Apple ? the new Ref. 5531 combines a minute repeater and a world-time function, two complications at which Patek has long been known to excel. Even more notably, it is unique among world-time minute repeaters ? not that there all that many, frankly ? in that instead of chiming the wearer’s home time even when he is traveling and has has the watch set to a different local time, the Ref. 5531 always strikes whatever local time is set. In other words, the time displayed by the central hands on the main dial, represented by the city aligned with the 12 o?clock posi...