Patek Philippe is one of the most timeless and longest-standing watch companies. In approximately two centuries of business, they’ve pioneered innumerable pieces of technology. These discoveries have contributed to the improvement of modern watchmaking and succeeded in some of the finest timepieces ever created. Patek Philippe is considered one of the world’s premier watchmakers. Their watches are recognized for sophistication & elegance. Let’s look at this storied brand.
When it comes to Swiss luxury watches, Patek Philippe is one brand that excels the list. Patek Philippe is one of the most prestigious and rare watches, along with other high-end names like Rolex, Audemars Piguet, and Vacheron Constantin.
A Patek Philippe watch even continues the record as “the most expensive watch ever sold” at an auction. A jaw-dropping price of $23.98 million (23,237,000 CHF) was given for the Patek Philippe Henry Graves Supercomplication pocket watch. The Patek Philippe 1518 Stainless Steel is sold for $11 million making it the “world’s most expensive wristwatch” ever.
8 Reason Why Patek Philippe is Very Expensive
1. Expertise
Patek Philippe has studied every aspect of excellent watchmaking from the hand-winding two-hand watch and “standard” developments with purposes like an annual calendar or second-time zone to complex masterpieces with minute repeaters, tourbillons, and split-seconds chronographs. Magisterial artisan craftsmanship goes hand-in-hand with the use of modern, high-tech machinery.
2. Tradition
This level of expertise cannot be accomplished overnight. Patek Philippe has been in continuation for 177 years and has designed watches continuously during this time, resulting in an extensive amount of expertise that is carried on from one generation of the watchmaker to the next.
3. Vision of Future
Although Patek Philippe has such a legendary tradition, the production is not bound to its past. On the one hand, the company reserves the values of the ancestral art of watchmaking while funding greatly in the use of new materials, technologies, and creative methods. The brand has also made an intentional choice to create new designs like the 2015 pilots’ watch, the Calatrava Pilot Travel Time.
4. Quality
Quality is the most valuable resource at Patek Philippe. The entire company is produced to support it. With the enlightenment of the Patek Philippe Seal in 2008, the company commanded rigid standards that often beat normal industry standards. But the devotion to quality does not just apply to the watches themselves. Patek Philippe places the highest measures on employee training from the watchmaker to the salesperson, including customer support that stretches from sales to service.
5. Family-owned company
They were founded in 1839 and have been driven for over 80 years by the Stern family, with the ownership now in its fourth generation. This presents a high degree of flexibility in the company’s philosophy and policies. It also prohibits the possibility of radical shifts in the direction required by a changing management, so the track of success will most surely continue. This guarantees sustainability, which is closely arranged with the following point.
6. Value
Anyone who buys a Patek Philippe understands that he probably won’t lose any money if he prefers to sell it at a later date. And the value of the watch may grow over time, though there is no way to prophesy this in individual cases. But it’s a reassuring fact, even when most people buy a watch simply for their pleasure and don’t have instant plans to resell.
7. Perfect decoration
The quality of hand-applied design in the production process is high, both in method and style. About 40 to 60 steps are needed even for obscure parts like wheels. Artisan methods such as enamel painting, remarkably delicate etching, the setting of precious stones, and inlays all play an important role.
8. Exclusivity
Only 50,000 watches from the brand are manufactured a year. Associated with other watch brands that produce around 1 million per year, this is an inadequate amount. The detailed stock process of the Patek watch is the reason for this low number. Offering some of its most basic watches would take about nine months. Whereas, more complex pieces take more than two years to complete.
Top 5 Watches of Patek Philippe
1. Nautilus
They published it as suspending its wildly popular 5711 in 2021, but not before it got this final departure version with a green dial. Many recognize it as the perfect luxury sports watch at 40mm. The real deal is the steel, and it’s rarer than the gold versions with years-long waiting lists that frequently only regular customers can even join.
2. Aquanaut Time and Date
This is the most stripped-down Patek Philippe sports watch, and for those who think it doesn’t have barely anything going on, we recommend you get one on your wrist and see if that doesn’t change your mind. The bezel is a subtle 16-sided affair, with brushed and polished casework that glimmers in steel and gold with 40mm diameter.
3. Calatrava
Simple lines on the dial complement the elegantly traditional case to form what many admit to being the type of dress watch. It also has a 39mm diameter.
4. Perpetual Calendar
A perpetual calendar will automatically account for leap years, and if wound accurately will continue straight for decades on end. The busy subdials of the 5327 are surface warnings of the complexity that lies underneath the dial.
5. Twenty-4 Collection
They introduced this line of smaller, mostly jeweled watches. Uniquely in the bigger-is-better the late 1990s, these were pointed at women, and continue today. The most extensive is the round 7300 model at 36mm.
In Conclusion
Based on all these generalizations, it is no disbelief why the Patek Philippe watch is such an expensive and worthy watch. It has been established to be a benchmark brand in Swiss luxury watches with its longstanding tradition and history in watchmaking. The blend of different factors, such as the use of top-quality materials, innovative designs, and finest workmanship makes it an excellent watch brand in the world of horology. To check more of the watches, visit Watchshopping for more information.
