Swiss gold heures universelles World Time watch Circa 1946

Gold open faced lever by Patek Philippe
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An important and rare Swiss 18 carat yellow gold open faced world time watch, heures universelles, circa 1946. Retailed by Gübelin. World time manual winding nickel lever movement, 18 jewels, three-part silvered dial, the central raised portion with applied yellow gold Roman numerals and dot indexes, the recessed intermediate portion indicating 24 hours with diurnal and nocturnal indication, the raised outer portion listing 41 world cities in French, rotating Louis Cottier designed Heures. Universelles bezel, snapback, arched pendant, dial signed by maker and retailer, case and movement signed by the maker, accompanied by an Extract from the Archives confirming the date of sale on April 2nd, 1948.
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Diameter: 44 mm
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Signed: Patek Philippe Geneva
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Reference 605 was created in fewer than 100 examples in total, with production commencing in 1937 and continuing for nearly thirty years. Watches were available in yellow and pink gold, with dial colour and layout variations.
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The Heures Universelles function in Ref. 605 is operated through the bezel, a mechanism shared by this and the wristwatch Ref. 1415. By rotating the bezel so that the home city is at the 12:00 position and setting the watch to the local time zone, the recessed 24-hour indication adjusts automatically so that one can see the current time in 41 world cities. Because the case, dial and movement are all integral to the technical function of the watch, Louis Cottier supervised the production of each element.
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It is interesting to note that the present watch, like many of Cottier’s inventions, lists London and Paris in the same time zone, Greenwich Mean Time. On June 15th, 1940, Paris converted to Central European time due to the war. For many years, it was thought that Paris would eventually revert back to GMT, and there are Patek Philippe Heures Universelles watches and wristwatches from as late as the 1970s which still list Paris and London in the same time zone.