Patek Philippe Chronograph 5170
Patek Philippe are world renowned for making some of the finest and
most complicated timepieces and if you've read one of the earlier posts,
on Vacheron Constantin, then you'll know that Patek Philippe is amongst the three watch brands that are considered the “Holy Trinity” of Haute Horlogerie. Founded on the 1 st of May 1839, by Antoine Norbert de Patek along with an ambitious watchmaker, Francois Czapek.
This day in History would lay the foundation of the legendary watch
brand and would mark the start of Patek's dream to start his own watch
factory, Patek, Czapek & Co.
Patek Philippe Pocket watch, Image: Auctionata
Patek located the manufacture in Geneva on the Quai des Bergues and
with the help of several employees, assembled approximately 200
superlative pocket watches per year. In 1844 during an exhibition in Paris, the young watch company displayed its products.
It was here that Antoine Patek would hear about the ingenious design
for a pocket watch that could be wound without the use of a key and
therefore misplaced or lost keys would no longer be a concern. The man who invented this device, called a crown, was none other than Jean Adrien Philippe.
Patek was so fascinated he swiftly offered the French watchmaker a
partnership that would begin in 1845. Unfortunately, this would bring an
end to the partnership with Czapek and on the 1st of January 1851, the
watch company would be known to the world as Patek, Philippe & Co.
In 1863 Jean Adrien Philippe's fundamental work on the keyless pocket watches was made public in Geneva and Paris.
However by 1894 both Antoine Norbert de Patek and Jean Adrien Philippe
had both passed away and in 1901 Patek, Philippe & Co. became a
joint-stock company incorporated with a capital of 1.6 million Swiss
francs. Its full name would be Ancienne Manufacture d'Horlogerie Patek Philippe & Co. SA.
Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Ref 2499
Due to the world financial crisis in 1929 and the collapse of high-end
quality watch sales in the US the company had to find a financially
strong buyer for a majority of its shares.
One of the first companies to table an offer was Jacques David
LeCoultre, a watch movement, component manufacturer and supplier from Le
Sentier in the Vallee deJoux but his offer was dismissed.
The offer taken up instead, was from brothers Charles and Jean Stern,
owners of the famed watch dial factory “Fabrique de Cadrans Stern
Frères”.
Patek Philippe Calatrava 5116R
During these turbulent years Patek never ceased making exquisite
timepieces and many fine examples were produced, such as: The Henry
Graves Super Complication timepiece made in 1933, which was sold just
last year for an astounding 23,237,000 Swiss Francs or how about in 1941
when Patek started the serial production of wristwatches that featured a
perpetual calendar and chronograph (reference 1518).
Or how about the introduction of the world's first wristwatch, which
featured an automatic winding mechanism and perpetual calendar
(reference 3448).
While there have been changes at the helm, till this day Patek Philippe
& Co. have remained privately owned and are, arguably, still
producing some of the most prestigious watches made today. Such as the timepieces in their Grand Complications range;
like the perpetual calendar chronograph, which has seen many reference
iterations, or the likes of the Sky Moon, or even more recently for
Patek Philippe's 175 th Anniversary, the Grand Master Chime. This
And what was true then, is still true today, “You never really own a
Patek Philippe, you merely look after it for the next generation.”
vedere di piu
repliche rolex e
Rolex Submariner
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