The History of Patek Philippe

As one of the biggest brands of Swiss watchmaking, Patek Philippe’s journey goes to about two hundred years ago.

The early 1800s were the years when all Europe affected by Napoleon. Since his politics, British Empire’s trade also decreased in Europe market. During this period, British market has a crucial role in watchmaking. When British watch market lost its dominance in watchmaking, Geneva, which is already a watch city, became a significant player in horology. In the mid-19^th century, 5,000 of Geneva’s population of 25,000 were employed in the watchmaking industry. French writer Alexandre Dumas described the Geneva with these words; “… The city of luxury, golden chains, watches, wagons and horses.”

During these years, Count Norbert Antoine de Patek stepped into the watchmaking industry by starting to sell movements. Patek, who was successful in his work in the second half of the 1930s, founded Patek, Czapek & Cie in May 1939 with François Czapek, who was also a Polish immigrant. Thus, the foundations of Patek Philippe, which has been producing watches for 185 years, were laid.

“Calatrava was the name of a Spanish order of knighthood that was founded in the late 12th century. Its blazonry stands for courage, chivalry, and independence, traits inseparably associated with the knights of the era. These are also traits that Patek Philippe strives to embody.”

Antoine de Patek and François Czapek started by producing pocket watches for high society and royalty. After Patek’s death in 1844, his son Antoni Patek succeeded him, and in 1845 a new name joined the brand: watchmaker Jean Adrien Philippe. The brand, which became Patek, Philippe and Cie in 1851, produced pocket watches using the hand-wound system developed by Philippe. During these years, Czapek was mainly involved in the commercial side of the business, and Philippe was involved in the production side. The brand exhibited pocket watches at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. Queen Victoria bought Patek, Philippe and Cie watches from that exhibition.

“Patek Philippe’s relationship with lady watches dates back to the early years of the brand’s founding. In 1939, Madame Goscinska was Patek Philippe’s first customer. She had purchased three necklace-style watches that could be worn on brooches or chains. The first watches produced by the brand attracted attention with their eye-catching enamel and use of jewelry. Even though the watches were produced in Geneva, they also bore the influence of the European aesthetic understanding of its two Polish immigrant founders.”

After Antoine Patek passed away in 1877, Adrien Philippe took his son Emile Joseph with him to educate him. Adrien Philippe, who made significant contributions to the world of watchmaking with his long and productive life, passed away in 1883. His son Joseph Philippe inherited the estate. Joseph Philippe, Henry Graves Jr., a wealthy American banker and watch enthusiast. He continued to work with and produce watches for many years. With Graves’ commercial cooperation, the brand was able to survive the economic crisis during the Great Depression after the First World War. The Stern brothers, Jean and Charles Henri Stern, who supplied dials to Patek Philippe in these years, bought the brand in 1932. Patek Philippe has been under the management of the Stern family since 1932.

1889 – A patent was received for the annual calendar mechanism in pocket watches.
1902 – The first double chronograph was patented.
1916 – The first complicated women’s wristwatch (No. 174 603) was produced.
1925 – The first wristwatch with a perpetual calendar (No. 97 975) within the brand was introduced.

1932, when the Stern brothers purchased the brand, marked another important date for Patek Philippe. Calatrava, one of the most important collections of the brand, was announced the same year. Patek Philippe, which has applied for nearly 100 patents to date, has contributed to haute horology with numerous innovations since its founding. Henry Stern took over the management of the brand, which started regular production of perpetual calendar wristwatches in 1941, in 1958. Under the management of Henry Stern, the brand introduced its iconic collections Golden Ellipse and Nautilus in 1968 and 1976, respectively. Nautilus, which was not in high demand when it was first announced, is one of the dream watches today.

Celebrating its 150th anniversary in 1989, Patek Philippe announced Caliber 89. Consisting of 33 complex functions and 1,702 parts, Caliber 89 became the second most complex model of the brand, surpassing the famous Henry Graves pocket watch produced by the brand in the first years. The two-dial watch designed for Henry Graves was designed between 1925 and 1933. In 2014, for its 175th anniversary, the Grandmaster Chime, the most complicated watch in production at that time, was announced. The Grandmaster Chime also became the most expensive Patek Philippe watch produced.

The Stern management, which still continues today, was taken over by Philippe Stern in 1993 and Thierry Stern in 2009. As Thierry Stern said in an interview, Patek Philippe is one of the few watch brands that pass not only the watches but also the company to the next generation. The deep-rooted watchmaking heritage they inherited was developed during the Stern family period and passed on to the next generations. To date, the brand has contributed to watchmaking with many innovations, from dial to case, balance spring to silicone escapement. Patek Philippe watches and parts are produced in the brand’s own factory and all are finished by hand. Patek Philippe Museum, opened in Geneva in 2001, brings together the heritage of the brand and its hundreds of years of watchmaking with approximately 2,500 watches and more than 8,000 publications to watch enthusiasts.