Patek Philippe

The Polish nobleman Antoine Norbert Graf de Patek had first high-quality clockworks built into cases in Geneva in 1839 with the watchmaker Francois Czapek to lay the foundation for his unique life's work. The company Patek, Czapek & Co, based in the Quai des Bergues 29, produced around 200 high-quality pocket hoppers with a handful of employees. After separating from Czapek in 1845 he found a brilliant designer with Jean-Adrien Philippe and developed with him the patent for the winding crown - you no longer needed a key to wind the clock or to adjust the time. From 1851 the company was named Patek Philippe & Co.

From 1901 Patek was converted into a public limited company but due to the world economic crisis in 1929 a financially strong investor had to be found in 1932 and the brothers Charles and Jean Stern were awarded the contract.

Today, Patek Philippe is one of the few independent watch companies owned by the Stern family, which in 1932 completed the acquisition of the company of Jean-Adrien Philippe, begun in 1929. In 1932, the classic watch Ref. 96 was introduced, which is still produced virtually unchanged. Only the size of the case was adapted to the taste of the time. In 1953 Patek Philippe launched the first automatic wind-operated watch of the manufactory. Since time immemorial, the manufactory has been making complicated wristwatches and pocket watches with so-called complications. For decades, the watchmaker's slogan has been:

A Patek Philippe never belongs to you alone. You enjoy it for a lifetime, but actually you keep it for the next generation.

Watchmaking is to be determined that there is probably nothing that would not have sprung from the studios in Geneva. Patek has been successfully active in the watchmaking sector for around 150 years. In 1927, the first wristwatch with a perpetual calendar was introduced. In 1941, it also featured a chronograph or, in 1937, a wristwatch with world time.