Patek Philippe

For the first time in the brand’s history in 2016, Patek Philippe combined two of its signature complications, the world time and chronograph, creating the reference 5930. The brand set about doing this in the most seamless and unobtrusive way possible, and thus several options were immediately off the table: a tachymetric scale would have clashed with the outer city ring, and thus was omitted entirely. Using a typical two register chronograph without increasing the case size would have also caused the dial to become cramped, and thus was not an appealing option either.

Patek Philippe’s solution was to use their CH 28-520 single register flyback movement first used in reference 5960, which incidentally paired perfectly with the classic Louis Cottier world time mechanism. Indeed, the new calibre became the thinnest world timer chronograph ever made. The result was a watch that looked as elegant as the rest of the brand’s world timer range, while adding the sportiness and functionality of a chronograph mechanism.