There are some models in watch collecting – that belong in any good and diverse collection.
A reverso from the 1930/40s, a Rolex submariner from the 1950/60s and just about any world time model from Patek, including the modern ones. I recently posted a picture of a world time from Patek (see picture above) and I got some unexpected feedback.
The feedback I got allowed me to learn a few things.
First – I honestly did not know the capital of Bangladesh. Now I do. It is called Dacca. Or it was called Dacca. Sometime in the 1980s (according to wikipedia – exactly in 1982) the government of Bangladesh changed the name from Dacca to Dhaka.
The reason was apparently because of the meaning of ‘Dacca’ in Bengali which meant physically pushing someone. Not really ideal- so the government changed the spelling from Dacca to Dhaka.
Why does this matter? Well in theory it doesn’t really matter so much. Unless you like history and watches- which I happen to enjoy. So let me explain. The predecessor model of the 5130 above was the 5510 (see picture below).
Many collectors believe (myself included) that the 5110 is destined to become a future classic.
The dial is a work of art, it is known as a ‘guilloche’ because of the special repetitive ‘textured’ pattern on the dial. However, more importantly for this post – notice the cities on the watch. Especially the city next to the winding crown on the picture below. Yes it is spelled Dacca, the old way of spelling the capital of Bangladesh.
So sometime around 2006 when Patek discontinued the 5110 and introduced the 5130, Patek Philippe updated the spelling of the capital city of Bangladesh to its correct spelling of Dhaka without anybody noticing or paying attention (collectors from Bangladesh knew this discrepancy existed). A
nd while we are on the topic of cities. Ever heard of the city Noumea? Neither have I.
It seems the World Time of Patek serves as a decent lesson in geographic cities.
(I would like to thank JR for pointing the Dacca / Dhaka discrepancy out and the ‘Rolexguy’ for the explanation. Credit to both pictures below go to Amanico of PuristSpro).
Below a picture of the beautiful world time 5110, which many believe are destined to become future classic. Notice the spelling of Dacca near the winding crown.
The 5110 was made in white gold, rose gold and platinum. The watch below is the platinum version, easily identifiable by the blue dial (white-gold had a white dial). The guilloche dial is a work of art.
