Polish watchmaker Antoine Nobert de Patek started making pocket watches in 1839 in Geneva, along with his fellow Czech partner Franciszek Czapek. They parted in 1844 and a year later Patek joined with the French watchmaker Adrien Philippe, inventor of the key-less winding mechanism to become Patek Philippe.
Patek Philippe created the first wristwatch in 1868 for Countess Koscowicz of Hungary.
Although it was the first timekeeping device to be designed specifically for use on the wrist, it was intended primarily as a piece of decorative jewellery.
Known for a unique heritage that combines experience, ingenuity and passion, Patek Philippe pioneered the perpetual calendar, split-seconds hand, chronograph and minute repeater.
Since 1932, Patek Philippe has been in the hands of the Stern family. Thierry Stern, the president of Patek Philippe leads the prestigious maison, employing 2000 worldwide and producing around 53,000 watches per annum.
Patek Philippe is regarded as one of the most prestigious and sought after brands in the world. The hard work and commitment of the designers and watchmakers at the company has ensured the success of the Calatrava, Golden Ellipse, Gondolo, Nautilus, Twenty-4, Aquanaut, Complications and Grand Complications watches.
CALATRAVA
Launched in 1932, the Calatrava, a round wristwatch, both elegant in its simplicity and classically understated. Over the years, the Calatrava name has been applied to both men’s and ladies’ timepieces.
NAUTILUS
Patek Philippe launched the Nautilus collection in 1976 with one of its slogans ‘One of the world’s most expensive watches is made of steel’. At that time, luxury watches were expected to be as thin as possible and made of gold. The Nautilus was the exception to the rule being almost 1cm in thickness and having lateral case flutes resembling a ship’s porthole.
Most models in the series are water resistant up to 120 metres. Over the years, a number of functional options such as date features and chronograph have been made available on newer models.
The timepieces in the Nautilus collections are regarded as sophisticated, timeless and sporty with the stainless steel models proving to be the most desirable.
AQUANAUT
Inspired by the Nautilus collection, the Aquanaut, launched by Patek Philippe in 1997 was aimed at a younger audience, who had a love for classical values as well as a passion for modernity. Highlights of the Aquanaut collection are a screw-down crown and a ‘tropical’ rubber strap.
Famous wearers of Aquanaut watches are Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and most recently, Ed Sheeran who have all been spotted wearing one.
TWENTY-4
Patek Philippe’s ladies Twenty-4 collection was launched in 1999 and has been the best selling ladies styles produced by the company. Timepieces in this collection are both beautiful & stylish and have been designed for active women with everyday use in mind.
The watches are available in a variety of metals and feature dazzling white diamonds to the dial, case and bracelet. The diamonds used for the Twenty-4 family are top Wesseltondiamonds, flawless stones of the highest quality.
COMPLICATIONS
A ‘Complication’ is any additional horological function to the display of hours, minutes and seconds.
Complicated watches are assigned to one of two categories. Complications and Grand complications.
Complications: Watches with one or several additional hands that have a timing function such as dual times zones, multiple time zones (World Time), Annual Calendar, power reserve indication, 10 day power reserve and indication of the state of wind of the movement.