subject: History of Patek Philippe [print this page] Patek Philippe & CoPatek Philippe & Co. (PP) is a manufacturer of luxury watches based in Switzerland. It was first founded on May 1, 1839, by two Polish immigrants who fled their country during the insurgency and settled in Geneva. The first name of the company was Patek, Czapek & Cie, which was derived from the names of its founders: the businessman Antoni Norbert Patek and the watchmaker Franciszek Czapek (also called Franois Czapek). At the time they were buying movements from other companies, and then sending them to be made into pocket watches to be sold mainly to the Polish community in Switzerland.
The relationship between Patek and Czapek started to deteriorate when Patek met a French watchmaker called Jean Adrien Philippe in 1844. At that time Philippe was presenting his invention a watch winding mechanism worked by a crown instead of a key at the French Industrial Exposition in Paris. In the very same year, Patek and Czapek separated and the company changed name to Patek & Cie. A year after Adrien Philippe joined the workshop but only in 1851 did they change the name to Patek Philippe & Co.
In the mean time, Franciszek Czapek founded his own watch manufacturer together with Juliusz Gruzewski, a Polish hero during the 1830 insurrection. This firm was posing a threat to PP since the majority of the Polish clienteles preferred to deal with Czapek & Cie. due to the French element (Philippe) at PP. Patek Philippe was having a hard time as the result.
However, PP's luck began to change when Queen Victoria expressed her wish to buy a small lady's watch from Patek & Co n 1857. It was approximately 30 mm in diameter with keyless winding and setting. Philippe's invention came to use for that particular order and PP business got a huge exposure from the purchase. With the new prestigious status, Patek Philippe & Co. started to eliminate their financial problems and their market expanded to Russia, Madrid, etc.
PP followed the watch trends by producing their first wristwatch in 1868. Then in 1925 they added perpetual calendar function in their wristwatches. In 1933, the Supercomplication' pocket watch with 24 functions was made especially for Henry Graves, Jr. an American banker and a keen watch collector. Graves, Jr. was betting to James Ward Packard an American automobile manufacturer that he could own a more complicated watch than Packard. He won the competition with the Supercomplication watch Patek Philippe produced. After Graves, Jr.'s death, the Supercompilation was auctioned and sold at USD 11 million, making it the most expensive watch ever sold at the time.
After that, Patek Philippe kept their flying colors reputation by producing remarkable watches that involved a lot of creativity and technology. One of the most complicated during that period was the extra thin Calatrava.' The timepiece featured triple date and perpetual calendar, age, phases of the moon and minute repeating.
In 1939 the company was bought by the Stern family and the success continued. In 1976 Patek Philippe launched Nautilus sports watch collection and in 1993 the Gondolo collection. The Patek Philippe Calibre 89 was created to commemorate the company's 150th anniversary and self-declared as the most complicated watch in the world. The legendary 18 carat gold watch weighs at 1.1 kg, displays 24 hands and has 1,728 components in total, including thermometer and a 2,800 star chart. This model only saw 4 creations made in different colors (white gold, yellow gold, rose gold and platinum) valued at USD 6 million each. The creation involved 5 years of research and development period and 4 years of manufacturing.
With such amazing journey, it is no wonder why Patek Philippe gained the admiration from the timepiece lovers.
