PATEK PHILIPPE. A VERY RARE AND HIGHLY ATTRACTIVE PLATINUM AUTOMATIC WORLD TIME WRISTWATCH WITH BRACELET, 'NORTH POLE' CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL DIAL, CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN AND BOX

To the best of our knowledge, the present example has never been offered in public before. Launched at Baselworld in 2017, reference 5131/1P-001 is the first “World Time” model cased in platinum and furthermore the first to depict the world from the perspective of the North Pole. This unusual view impressing with its depth and realism was created using numerous coatings of different enamel colours. The icy beauty of the platinum case and bracelet pay homage to the Far North.

Wristwatches with cloisonné dials have always held a powerful attraction for buyers and collectors for many reasons, their beauty and highly coloured richness created in the furnace is preserved with unchanging permanence over the years. The production of such dials is extremely costly as they have to be individually artisan made, the outline of the desired motif is achieved by arranging thin gold wires on the dial plate. These partitions were then filled with small quantities of enamel powder in the desired colours. The dial is then fired in a furnace at around 1000 degrees Celsius causing the powder to melt into glass. Finally, it is hand-polished until a perfectly flat surface is obtained.