At the peak of the British Empire, the Queen held an exhibition to display the technological marvels of that time. A company from Geneva barely twelve years old, had its own marvel – a watch with stem winding and time setting system by the crown. Later, when Queen Victoria bought her first Patek Philippe watch, the company was still known by its old name ‘Patek & Cie’. Queen Victoria owned one more exclusive Patek Philippe time piece created in pendant style to be worn pinned to her clothing. The list of Patek Philippe’s noble clientele includes Pope Pius IX, Christian IX, Louise (the King and Queen of Denmark), Victor-Emanuel III (King of Italy) and Hussein Kamal (Prince of Egypt). People who matter in the world are looking for Patek Philippe as a family heirloom to be passed on to the next generation. This is the essence of the Patek Philippe brand.
History
This is the 160th year since the company was founded on May 1, 1839 by two Polish immigrants. Like Rolex, the origin of Patek Philippe is hardly Swiss. Antoine Norbert de Patek, a salesman and Francois Czapek a watch maker invented a crown hand winding mechanism set up the company. Subsequently, a French watch marker Adrien Philippe joined the business and hence the name. The company was bought over by two Swiss brothers Charles and Jean Stern. Since then, four generations of Stern’s own and manage the company as a family. Patek Philippe’s brand emblem has deep historical roots and goes back to the middle ages. In 1158 a Spanish religious order defended the Calatrava citadel against the moors. At the end of the nineteenth century, Patek Philippe adopted the emblem of the brave Spanish knights as its brand symbol, which signs Patek Philippe watches today.The Calatrava continues to be the largest selling Patek Philippe model.
The other four models – ‘Ellipse collection’ was introduced in 1968, ‘Nautilus sports’ was introduced in 1976 and the ‘Gondolo collection’ was introduced in 1993. The ‘Star Caliber 2000′, a double sided pocket watch with 21 complications and ‘Sky Moon Tourbillion’ introduced in 2002 are the legendary models.
Beyond belief
Patek Philippe produced an ultra-complicated (with 24 functions) pocket watch in 1933 for one Henry Graves, Jr. Till 1989 this watch remained as the most complicated watch produced in the world. After his death, the watch was auctioned at Sotheby’s in December 1999 for US $ 11 million – the most expensive timepiece ever sold. On April 10, 2008 the platinum Patek Philippe tourbillon wrist watch (5002P Sky Moon Turbillon) at Hong Kong Sotheby’s was auctioned for $ 1.4 million. This, as of today, is the most expensive wrist watch in the world. As if a 24-function complication watch was not good enough; in its 150th year anniversary in 1989, Patek Philippe created the most complicated watch in the world again, by name ‘Calibre 89′. It holds 33 complications including the date of Easter, a thermometer, time of sunrise, equation of time, sidereal time and many other indicators. Calibre 89 is made out of 1728 unique parts (compared to 51 components that are needed to create a Swatch). Calibre 89 is also able to add a day to February for leap years, leaving out an extra day for every 100 years interval!
Investment writer Nic Foulkes writing for Financial Times, London (March 23, 2007) includes Patek Philippe in the list of “Alternate investments”. He includes brands such as Breguet, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin and of course many Rolex models in his list of investables. Patek Philippe however sits on top like a colossus. There is an old Swiss saying *If you are buying a watch that is more than $ 100 for reading time; you must be quite foolish’. Watches for a long time have become a fashion statement, an emotional object to be owned, to discretely introduce who you are, but only Patek Philippes put watches in the class of investment. If you are choosing between Patek Philippes and Government bonds, you know what is good for you!Swatch, the world’s largest watch maker (by number) of course makes about 10 million watches a year. Rolex, the world’s largest (by revenue) makes only 600,000 watches a year and took 85 years to make its ten millionth watch. Patek Philippe took over 150 years to manufacture what Rolex produces in one year. As a closely held company it is impossible to find statistics about Patek Philippe – the company. The last available statistics puts the company’s revenue at $ 530 million in 2004.
If we keep the average price for a Patek Philippe at $ 20,000; it is fair to believe that they make about 25,000 watches a year. Quite apart from being a technological marvel and the limited number of watches they manufacture; Patek Philippe’s charm also lies in the company’s value and its brand positioning.
Value and heritage
This is how the company sees its own value: “It is hard to measure the value of Patek Philippe in purely financial terms. Aesthetics, craftsmanship and reliability all make their contributions. We purposefully design, produce and test every watch to last for generations. This allows us to say: ‘You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation’. Perhaps though, the true value is emotional. The desire to pass on a treasured possession, an heirloom, to a son or daughter can find no greater expression than in a Patek Philippe watch”. Lasting value is both material and emotional.
Tourbillion
The watch world changed to the power of ‘reserve’ in 2003 when Patek Philippe introduced the 10-day Tourbillion wrist watch. Those who buy sub-$100 Quartz watches can skip this one! For those who value real watches, here is the meaning of ‘Tourbillion.’ It was in the 18th century when inquisitive minds discovered that the sprint of the balance – the beating ‘heart’ that regulates portable watches – has a systemic error. Because of its helical shape, the spring’s center of gravity is not precisely in the middle. Consequently, the regularity of its oscillations is affected by earth’s gravitational pull as soon as the watch is moved out of the horizontal position. The tourbillon corrects this interference because it suspends the balance wheel and balance sprint in a cage that rotates about its own axis once a minute. Thus, the position error is automatically offset.If you are tired of making risky equity investment, and can’t guess the prices of gold or real estate in the future, try an alternate investment – a Patek Philippe watch. You can pass it on to the next generation with pride!
( This was published originally in Smartbuy, a suupplement of The BusinessLine, on May 14, 2008)
History
This is the 160th year since the company was founded on May 1, 1839 by two Polish immigrants. Like Rolex, the origin of Patek Philippe is hardly Swiss. Antoine Norbert de Patek, a salesman and Francois Czapek a watch maker invented a crown hand winding mechanism set up the company. Subsequently, a French watch marker Adrien Philippe joined the business and hence the name. The company was bought over by two Swiss brothers Charles and Jean Stern. Since then, four generations of Stern’s own and manage the company as a family. Patek Philippe’s brand emblem has deep historical roots and goes back to the middle ages. In 1158 a Spanish religious order defended the Calatrava citadel against the moors. At the end of the nineteenth century, Patek Philippe adopted the emblem of the brave Spanish knights as its brand symbol, which signs Patek Philippe watches today.The Calatrava continues to be the largest selling Patek Philippe model.
The other four models – ‘Ellipse collection’ was introduced in 1968, ‘Nautilus sports’ was introduced in 1976 and the ‘Gondolo collection’ was introduced in 1993. The ‘Star Caliber 2000′, a double sided pocket watch with 21 complications and ‘Sky Moon Tourbillion’ introduced in 2002 are the legendary models.
Beyond belief
Patek Philippe produced an ultra-complicated (with 24 functions) pocket watch in 1933 for one Henry Graves, Jr. Till 1989 this watch remained as the most complicated watch produced in the world. After his death, the watch was auctioned at Sotheby’s in December 1999 for US $ 11 million – the most expensive timepiece ever sold. On April 10, 2008 the platinum Patek Philippe tourbillon wrist watch (5002P Sky Moon Turbillon) at Hong Kong Sotheby’s was auctioned for $ 1.4 million. This, as of today, is the most expensive wrist watch in the world. As if a 24-function complication watch was not good enough; in its 150th year anniversary in 1989, Patek Philippe created the most complicated watch in the world again, by name ‘Calibre 89′. It holds 33 complications including the date of Easter, a thermometer, time of sunrise, equation of time, sidereal time and many other indicators. Calibre 89 is made out of 1728 unique parts (compared to 51 components that are needed to create a Swatch). Calibre 89 is also able to add a day to February for leap years, leaving out an extra day for every 100 years interval!
Investment writer Nic Foulkes writing for Financial Times, London (March 23, 2007) includes Patek Philippe in the list of “Alternate investments”. He includes brands such as Breguet, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin and of course many Rolex models in his list of investables. Patek Philippe however sits on top like a colossus. There is an old Swiss saying *If you are buying a watch that is more than $ 100 for reading time; you must be quite foolish’. Watches for a long time have become a fashion statement, an emotional object to be owned, to discretely introduce who you are, but only Patek Philippes put watches in the class of investment. If you are choosing between Patek Philippes and Government bonds, you know what is good for you!Swatch, the world’s largest watch maker (by number) of course makes about 10 million watches a year. Rolex, the world’s largest (by revenue) makes only 600,000 watches a year and took 85 years to make its ten millionth watch. Patek Philippe took over 150 years to manufacture what Rolex produces in one year. As a closely held company it is impossible to find statistics about Patek Philippe – the company. The last available statistics puts the company’s revenue at $ 530 million in 2004.
If we keep the average price for a Patek Philippe at $ 20,000; it is fair to believe that they make about 25,000 watches a year. Quite apart from being a technological marvel and the limited number of watches they manufacture; Patek Philippe’s charm also lies in the company’s value and its brand positioning.
Value and heritage
This is how the company sees its own value: “It is hard to measure the value of Patek Philippe in purely financial terms. Aesthetics, craftsmanship and reliability all make their contributions. We purposefully design, produce and test every watch to last for generations. This allows us to say: ‘You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation’. Perhaps though, the true value is emotional. The desire to pass on a treasured possession, an heirloom, to a son or daughter can find no greater expression than in a Patek Philippe watch”. Lasting value is both material and emotional.
Tourbillion
The watch world changed to the power of ‘reserve’ in 2003 when Patek Philippe introduced the 10-day Tourbillion wrist watch. Those who buy sub-$100 Quartz watches can skip this one! For those who value real watches, here is the meaning of ‘Tourbillion.’ It was in the 18th century when inquisitive minds discovered that the sprint of the balance – the beating ‘heart’ that regulates portable watches – has a systemic error. Because of its helical shape, the spring’s center of gravity is not precisely in the middle. Consequently, the regularity of its oscillations is affected by earth’s gravitational pull as soon as the watch is moved out of the horizontal position. The tourbillon corrects this interference because it suspends the balance wheel and balance sprint in a cage that rotates about its own axis once a minute. Thus, the position error is automatically offset.If you are tired of making risky equity investment, and can’t guess the prices of gold or real estate in the future, try an alternate investment – a Patek Philippe watch. You can pass it on to the next generation with pride!
( This was published originally in Smartbuy, a suupplement of The BusinessLine, on May 14, 2008)
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