Swiss wristwatches are thought to be one of the best on earth. Gross sales of Swiss watches account for over $8 billion annually. However for the true connoisseur of Swiss watches, one of the best watches on the earth is a Patek Philippe wristwatch. However, why are Patek Philippe watches higher than others?
For skilled horologists and inveterate wristwatch collectors, there may be one identify that sits on the pinnacle of watches – Patek Philippe. The corporate was based in Geneva in 1839 by an exiled Polish Nobleman, Depend Antoine Norbert de Patek, and his compatriot Francois Czapek. In 1845, Czapek left the partnership. Several years later, Jean Adrien Philippe joined Antoine Patek as an accomplice and, in 1851, the Patek Philippe identify was launched. From the start, Patek Philippe produced watches that have been a marvel of precision engineering, look, and design. The output was at all times saved fairly small – about 15,000 per 12 months – however, the high quality was at all times unsurpassed. By the tip of the nineteenth century, the corporate had cornered the top-of-the-range watch market.
A top quality of a watch is outlined by the supplies used, the know-how employed in its making, and the motion used within the watch. Patek Philippe makes use of solely the perfect of those three issues when making a watch.
Patek Philippe manufactures extra elements for a watch than does some other firm; proper down to the smallest wheels, cogs, screws, and bracelets. The supplies used are one of the best and the corporate employs craftsmen – goldsmiths, jewelers, enamellers, engravers – who work solely for the corporate and whose craftsmanship is unparalleled.
Over the 12 months, Patek Philippe has been the primary to introducing new know-how in to look at making. Jean Adrien Philippe was the inventor of their well-known stem-winding and hand setting mechanism, a contemporary and dependable idea nonetheless used at the moment. So far, Patek Philippe has over 70 patents. The corporate nonetheless leads the best way in using new know-how to look at making; in 2006, the corporate launched the primary wheel on the earth that’s made in silicon for anchor escapement.
Patek Philippe has at all times produced watches that might do issues that no different watch had ever carried out earlier than and this custom is maintained as much as this present day. The second most complex motion ever made was additionally a Patek Philippe watch. The Graves Supercomplication was commissioned by American financier Henry Graves in 1933 and features a show of the nighttime sky over New York Metropolis, a measurement of the dawn and sundown, and the equation of time which is the distinction between Imply Time (a 24-hour clock) and photo voltaic time.
The Calibre 89 was made in 1989 to have fun on the corporate’s one hundred and fiftieth anniversary. The Patek Philippe Calibre 89 is probably the most sophisticated motion ever made. The Caliber 89 boasts a complete 33 problems, together with the date of Easter via the 12 months of 2017, a celestial chart that graphically and precisely depicts the nighttime sky, a split-second chronograph for the measurement of elapsed time in cut-up seconds, and a Grand Sonnerie — 4 gongs that chime the time in hours, quarter hours and half hours.
The method of making a Patek watch begins with as much as 4 years of analysis and improvement. Manufacturing takes a minimum of 9 months with extra sophisticated watches taking as much as two years. The corporate spend one other six weeks to a few months testing every mannequin earlier than it is out there on the market. Patek watches aren’t mass produced, however, are particular person items; each distinctive.
So, does Patek Philippe make prime-rated watches? No, they make chic watches. Utilizing one of the best supplies, know-how, and actions, it is not shocking that Patek Philippe makes one of the best watches on the earth. One, ultimate truth as to why Patek wristwatches are the world’s finest. Annually, Rolex makes and sells extra wristwatches than Patek Philippe has made in its complete historical past.