Patek Philippe

Early history The company traces its origins to the mid-19th century, when Polish watchmaker Antoni Patek and his Czech-born Polish business partner Franciszek Czapek formed Patek, Czapek & Cie in Geneva on 1 May 1839 and started manufacturing pocket watches. The two eventually separated due to disagreements, and the company was liquidated on 18 April 1845. Subsequently, Patek was joined by French watchmaker Adrien Philippe, the inventor of the keyless winding mechanism (although this had been discovered previously by Abraham Louis Breguet but not patented by him), and continued the watchmaking business with a new company, Patek & Cie, beginning on 15 May 1845. On 1 January 1851, the company's name was officially changed to Patek, Philippe & Cie. In 1868, Patek Philippe created the first Swiss wristwatch for Countess Koscowicz of Hungary. As a result, Joseph Antoine Bénassy-Philippe, one of Adrien Philippe's sons-in-law, succeeded to Antoni Patek's position. In 1891, the 76-year-old Adrien Philippe handed over his position in the business to his youngest son, Joseph Emile Philippe, together with François Antoine Conty. Adrien Philippe died in January 1894. Still being run as a family business, Patek Philippe then had seven shareholders, five of whom formed the board of directors with J. A. Bénassy-Philippe being the chairman. The Stern family of Switzerland has owned Patek Philippe since 1932, when Charles Stern and Jean Stern acquired the company during the Great Depression. The Stern brothers' company, Fabrique de Cadrans Sterns Frères, had been a business partner of Patek Philippe as its supplier of watch dials. In 1935, Patek Philippe was brought to American markets by New York-based Henri Stern Watch Agency, where it was sold as a sister brand alongside Universal Genève. In 1958, Henri Stern, the son of Charles Stern, became the president of Patek Philippe. Alan Banbery, who previously designed Universal's "Compax" movements and worked as a horologist for London's Garrard & Co, would take on the position of Director of Sales in 1965 and later authored official reference books on vintage Patek Philippe pocket watches and chronographs. Recent developments In 1993, Philippe Stern, the son of Henri Stern, became the president of the company. In 2009, Philippe Stern's son, Thierry Stern, took over the reins from his father. In 2010, the company produced 40,000 timepieces and, according to Thierry Stern, it produced 58,000 pieces in 2017. In 2018, the number went up to 62,000, and in order to maintain quality and exclusivity, Patek Philippe would only slowly increase the number of timepieces produced each year (by 1-3 percent per year) but with a ceiling. Currently, the company is an active member of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH. Since the 2000s, Patek Philippe timepieces have repeatedly fetched high prices in auctions worldwide. As of 2023, among the world's top ten most expensive watches ever sold at auctions, nine were Patek Philippe watches. Among the top 58 most expensive watches sold at auction (over 2 million US dollars), 46 are Patek Philippe watches. A small part of the demand for auction pieces is driven by Patek Philippe themselves, as they are purchasing in the auction market to add to the collection of the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva. == Motto and slogan ==

One of Patek Philippe's company slogans is "You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation." The slogan was introduced when the company launched its "Generations" campaign in 1996. == Watch manufacturing ==

, an authorized retailer and close business partner of Patek Philippe|alt= wristwatch|alt=|200x200px Patek Philippe manufactures its own watch components. Like other Swiss manufacturers, the company produces mostly mechanical movements with automatic or manual winding mechanism, but has also been producing quartz watches. In fact, Patek Philippe was one of the twenty Swiss watch companies that founded the Centre Electronique Horloger and collaboratively developed the first Swiss quartz movements, such as the Beta 21 movement (1969) which was used by several manufacturers in their watches. In 1950s, the company even produced a prototype for a mechanical digital wristwatch, Ref. 3414. Patek Philippe popularized complications such as perpetual calendar, split-seconds hand, chronograph, and minute repeater in mechanical watches. In 2009, the company announced that all of its future mechanical timepieces would be imprinted with the Patek Philippe Seal which requires a precision of -3/+2 seconds per day for diameters no less than 20 mm and -5/+4 seconds per day for diameters less than 20 mm, surpassing the highest industry standard of watch manufacturing and thus abandoning the Geneva Seal. In December 2018, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) released a report assigning environmental ratings for 15 major watch manufacturers and jewelers in Switzerland. Patek Philippe was given the lowest environmental rating as "Latecomers/Non-transparent", suggesting the manufacturer has taken few actions addressing the impact of its manufacturing activities on the environment and climate change. The following are some of the important contributions from Patek Philippe to the watchmaking industry. • In 1845, patented keyless winding and hand-setting system, which received a bronze medal at the 1844 Industrial Exposition in Paris. • In 1889, patented perpetual calendar mechanism for pocket watches. • In 1933, created the Henry Graves Supercomplication, the most complicated mechanical watch in the world (24 complications) until 1989. • In 1949, patented the Gyromax balance. • In 1956, created the world's first all-electronic clock which, in 1958, received the "Award for Miniaturization” in New York. • In 1962, a tourbillon movement achieved the world's still-unbeaten timekeeping precision record for mechanical watches at Geneva Observatory. • In 2003/05, launched the annual calendar Ref. 5250, being the world's first watch with silicon-based (the Silinvar alloy) escapement wheel. • In 2006, introduced the silicon-based Spiromax balance spring. ==Notable models==

Most expensive pieces • On November 28, 2012, the Patek Philippe Star Calibre 2000 Ref. 990/1 was sold at Christie's in Hong Kong for a final price of US$3.28 million (HKD 25,300,000), becoming the most expensive timepiece ever auctioned in Asia at the time. The timepiece boasts 21 complications, including Westminster Chimes, minute repeating, lunar orbit and so on, and was made in 2008. • On November 11, 2014, the Henry Graves Supercomplication was sold at Sotheby's Geneva Auction for a record-breaking US$23.98 million (CHF 23,237,000), becoming the most expensive watch ever sold at auction and held the title until November 9, 2019. The Supercomplication was made in 1933 for the prominent banker Henry Graves Jr. The ultra-complicated pocket watch (having 24 complications) was the result of Graves' friendly horological competition with James Ward Packard. After Graves' death, the watch was held by his daughter, and then by his grandson until 1969, when it was sold to Seth G. Atwood who kept the watch in his renowned "Time Museum" in Rockford, Illinois until 1999. The watch was auctioned for the first time at Sotheby's in December 1999 for a record-breaking US$11 million to Sheikh Saud Bin Mohammed Bin Ali Al-Thani of the Qatari royal family. • On November 12, 2016, a Patek Philippe Ref. 1518 in steel took the title as the most expensive wristwatch ever sold at auction (until October 2017). Sold through Phillips' Geneva auction house, the watch fetched a final price of US$11.14 million (CHF 11,002,000). This was the first time that a steel-case Ref. 1518 (only four were made in steel) went for auction; in fact, this piece was the first of the four steel Ref. 1518 manufactured, which features a chronograph and perpetual calendar. • On November 9, 2019, Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300A-010 became the most expensive watch ever sold at auction, fetching US$31 million (CHF 31,000,000) in Christie's Geneva auction. • On April 25, 2022, a likely unique Patek Philippe Ref. 2499 – featuring a rare pink-gold case, and even rarer signature on its center subdial from Gobbi, the Milan watch dealer – sold at Sotheby's in Hong Kong for $7.68 million (HKD 60,265,000), setting a new record as the most expensive Ref. 2499 ever sold at auction. • Over the weekend of November 9–10, 2025, a Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Reference 1518, made in 1943, one of only four known to have been made in stainless steel, was sold for 14.19 million Swiss francs. It had once held the title for most expensive wristwatch ever sold at an auction for 11 million Swiss francs in 2016. Originally, the Stern brothers, soon after they acquired Patek Philippe in 1932, introduced the Calatrava to help the company pass through the Great Depression smoothly. The original Calatrava Ref. 96 was in production for more than 40 years, and its successor models include Ref. 2526, Ref. 3520, Ref. 5196 and so on. Known for its simple and elegant design, the Calatrava wristwatch has been a flagship model of Patek Philippe since its introduction. The "World Time" complication is able to show the time for all 24 time zones on the same watch and was invented by Swiss watchmaker Louis Cottier in 1931. Cottier's invention attracted several watchmaking companies, while Patek Philippe was the first company to introduce a series of World Time wristwatches after forging a partnership with Mr. Cottier. The successors to Ref. 1415 include Ref. 2523, Ref. 5230, Ref. 5531 (with minute repeater), and so on. Nautilus wristwatch In 1976, Patek Philippe introduced the Nautilus collection after deciding it was time to produce an exclusive sport watch with finishes of the highest quality. The first model was Ref. 3700 and was made of steel. It was designed by Swiss watchmaker Gérald Genta, who previously designed the Royal Oak collection for Audemars Piguet, and was released by Patek Philippe during the quartz crisis in the hope that it would help re-attract people's attention to high-end Swiss mechanical watches. The Nautilus wristwatch has become one of the most popular collections from Patek Philippe, and the Ref. 5711 & 5712 models, which the company introduced in 2006 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the collection, are among the most popular models. Perpetual calendar chronograph Patek Philippe introduced the first serially produced perpetual calendar chronograph in 1941, with Ref. 1518 being the first model. The Ref. 1518 was in production from 1941-1954 with 281 pieces produced, mostly in yellow gold, approximately 55 pieces in rose gold and 4 pieces in steel. The Ref. 1518 is considered to be iconic and a masterpiece at 35mm in diameter with the original price in 1944 being 2,800 Swiss Francs. making it the most expensive vintage Patek Philippe wristwatch ever sold at auction. The sale took place during Phillips (auctioneers) Geneva Watch Auction, held in association with Bacs & Russo, and marks a significant moment not only for Patek collecting, but for the broader watch market." This auction broke the prior record set on November 12, 2016, when a Ref. 1518 in steel became the most expensive wristwatch ever sold at auction (until October 2017), fetching a record-breaking US$11.14 million (11,002,000 CHF) in Geneva (through Phillips' auction house). Historically, only 349 pieces of Ref. 2499 were made from 1950 to 1985 in yellow, white and rose gold with two pieces in platinum - around 9 pieces each year. Over the course of 35 years, four series of Ref. 2499 were introduced, exerting a strong influence on the watch designs of many other renowned watchmakers. The rare platinum 2499 was owned by Patek Philippe collector, Eric Clapton. While it was known within the watch collecting world that Clapton owned the watch, it came up for auction in November 2012 and sold for $3.63 million. The which was stolen years ago but recently returned to her estate after a legal battle. The watch is now back in Yoko Ono's possession following a Swiss court ruling that the Italian buyer who found it at an auction was not the rightful owner. The successors to Ref. 2499 include, in chronological order, Ref. 3970 (1985 - 2004, 4,200 produced in 3 series,36mm diameter), Ref. 5970 (2004 - 2010, 2,800 produced, 40 mm diameter) and Ref. 5270 (2011–present, 41mm diameter). The Ref. 5270 was the first Patek perpetual calendar chronograph to be powered by an in-house movement, the CH 29-535 PS Q. Sky Moon Tourbillon Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon wristwatch was introduced in 2001, with Ref. 5002 being the first model. The wristwatch has two dials and contains 12 complications including tourbillon, minute repeater, sky chart, and moon phase & orbit. In 2013, the company introduced the second model of Sky Moon Tourbillon, Ref. 6002, also with 12 complications. Sky Moon Tourbillon was the most complicated wristwatch from Patek Philippe until 2014. 150th anniversary edition In 1989, Patek Philippe created Calibre 89, then the most complicated mechanical watch ever made, for its 150th anniversary. Only four pieces of Calibre 89 were ever manufactured by Patek Philippe, with one in white gold, one in yellow gold, one in rose gold, and one in platinum. The yellow-gold and the white-gold Calibre 89 were sold at auctions by Antiquorum in 2009 and 2004, respectively, and both watches currently rank among the top ten most expensive watches ever sold at auction, with final prices over 5 million US dollars. 175th anniversary edition In 2014, Patek Philippe introduced the Grandmaster Chime Ref. 5175, the most complicated wristwatch ever built by the manufacturer (with 20 complications, but no tourbillon), to celebrate its 175th anniversary. Only seven pieces of Ref. 5175 were created, with one permanently residing in the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva. The sale price for each of the other six pieces was 2.5 million CHF (2.6 million US dollars). In 2016, Patek Philippe introduced the Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300, succeeding the Grandmaster Chime Ref. 5175. Ref. 6300 also has 20 complications, including grande sonnerie, minute repeater, and alarm with time strike (but without tourbillon), with the sale price over 2.2 million US dollars. The purchase of each piece requires an application from the buyer and has to be approved by Patek Philippe President Thierry Stern. ==See also==