Chr. Ward C900 WORLDTIMER, Owner'S Handbook Manual

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The WorldTImer
hIsTorY of The WorldTImer
The emergence of the Worldtimer is
attributed to the growing importance
of air travel and telecommunications.
One of the most useful functions available on
a watch is the ability to know the hour in more
than one time zone. Traditionally worldtimer dials are
complex and difficult to read, and do not legislate
for individual summer and winter time changes in
certain countries. Therefore at certain periods of the
year not all time zones indicated will be correct.
Worldtimers were originally developed in the 1930s
by Louis Cottier, a famous independent watchmaker
from Geneva. He devised a clever mechanism
that gave the time in all time zones on a single dial
at a glance.
Following the success of this ingenious system,
Cottier specialised in complicated world time
watches and produced designs for the most prestigious Geneva brands, notably
Patek Philippe, Rolex, Vacheron Constantin
and Agassiz.
Above: Louis Cottier
Right: Cottier Vacheron
Constantin worldtimer,
the first Cottier Universal
Time watch signed
Vacheron Constantin
dating from 1932.