PATEK PHILIPPE: THE PINNACLE OF TIMEPIECES AND ITS CREATORS
Antoine Norbert de Patek, a Polish watchmaker, founded Patek Philippe in the 19th century. He was born in Piaski Szlacheckie, Poland on June 14, 1812. He moved to Switzerland in 1834 and in 1839, he started making pocket watches together with Franciszek Czapek, a fellow Czech partner.
1839. The company started as Patek, Czapek & Cie. Making pocket timepieces for aristocracy and high society was Antoine Patek and François Czapek's first venture.
1844. Patek and Czapek separated and Patek met Adrien Philippe. Together, Patek and Philippe founded the brand Patek Philippe, but it wasn't until 1851 that the company was formally known as Patek, Philippe and Co.
It was Jean Adrien Philippe who invented the key-less winding mechanism. He received a Gold Medal for this creation at the French Industrial Exposition.
1851. Patek went on a trip to the United States and met Charles Lewis Tiffany of Tiffany & Co. This was the beginning of their lucrative business partnership, which is still going strong today.
1851. According to the Patek Philippe Archives, Queen Victoria purchased watch No. 4710, an azure blue, pendant watch decorated with diamonds on November 30, 1851, for the sum of 612.50 CHF. She saw this piece at the exhibition and fell in love with it and it can now be seen in the Patek Philippe Museum.
- The very first wristwatch of Patek Philippe was produced.
1876. That first wrist watch was sold to the Hungarian Countess Koscowicz. It was a gold bangle that had a hunter watch case with a design similar to a triptych when opened.
In 1932, Patek was forced to sell his shares due to a severe global economic crisis, and Charles and Jean Stern became the new owners.
1944. In the Geneva Observatory competition, Patek Philippe took home a record number of first place awards for precision.
1962. At the Geneva Observatory, a Patek Philippe tourbillon movement achieves the still-unbroken global timekeeping precision record for a mechanical watch.
2001.The very first Patek Philippe Museum was opened in Geneva.
2019. At the eighth Only Watch auction held at Christie's in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 9, 2019, the most expensive watch sold was the Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300A-010 fetching US$31.19 million.
For the most elite members of society, Patek Philippe has long produced timepieces. Antoine Norbert de Patek marketed his watches to the clients he was most familiar with right off the bat: Polish aristocracy members and because of this, news traveled fast about Patek’s exceptional timepieces.
Here are just some of the royalties who wore Patek Philippe.
Queen Elizabeth, Princess Diana and Prince Charles, Sophie Countess of Wessex, Rāma V King of Siam in 1868 and Tsar Alexander II Emperor of Russia in 1881.
Today, Patek Philippe is proud to have a collection of 154 different models of luxury timepieces. With more than 180 years of producing watches, Patek Philippe is one of the oldest Swiss watch manufacturers. Patek Philippe has led the way in contemporary watchmaking for nearly 200 years of operation. The company has always been privately held, and throughout the years, it has established itself as one of the most prestigious names in the luxury watch industry.
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