Patek Philippe Watches

The original Patek Philippe was founded in 1839 in Geneva, Switzerland by two Polish watchmakers Antoni Norbert de Patek and Franciszek Czapek. The company was named as "Patek and Czapek" at the time. 

Because of differences between the two the co-operation did not continue. Patek then started a new partnership with the talented young French watchmaker Jean Adrien Philippe. With the entry of Philippe and Vincent Gostkowski, the company was renamed to Patek & Co. in 1845. 

When British Queen Victoria acquired a pocket watch from Patek Philippe in 1851，the company had gained its name in all the royal families worldwide. It was soon officially titled as Patek Philippe. 

Since then Patek Philippe has become a brand loved by the nobles all across the world. In 1868, the Patek Philippe created its first wristwatch for the Hungarian Countess Koscowicz. 

The growth of the company allowed it to continue research and experiment for significant inventions. In 1889, Patek Philippe invented and patented its first perpetual calendar mechanism, which offered a month and date display that functions precisely in spite of the leap years.

Patek Philippe has achieved many “First ever” that influence the whole watchmaking industry. One of the most significant inventions should be its first ever double chronograph developed in 1902. It was a watch that included two different mechanisms to measure two time periods. In 1925, the brand introduced the world's first wristwatch with a perpetual calendar complication. And two years later in 1927, the first wrist chronographs were produced by Patek Philippe. In 1962, Patek Philippe introduced the world's first automatic winding wristwatch with a perpetual calendar.

1976 was a big year for Patek Philippe. Designed by the renowned designer Gerald Genta, the most sought-after model Patek Philippe Nautilus debuted to market and gained huge attention from the collectors. The most recognisable feature of this watch should be the bezel in porthole-shape. 

Patek Philippe didn’t stop its strive for innovations. In 1977, the brand produced the  thinnest self-winding movement, Patek Philippe Calibre 240, with only 2.40 mm height.

Furthermore, to celebrate its 150th anniversary Patek Philippe presented the legendary Calibre 89 in 1989, which was developed nine whole years. Built with 33 complications and 1728 components, this is an extraordinarily complicated pocket watch. On two sides of the case of this Patek Philippe watch it has 24 hands and 12 dials. It features various complications including a minute repeater with large and small carillion, alarm function, tourbillon, perpetual calendar display, a rattrapante chronograph movement and over 20 more. It is regarded as the most complicated pocket watch movement ever.

With its expertise and experience of over a hundred years, Patek Philippe is still taking the lead in horology in the 21th century. In 2002 the brand released the first double-sided wristwatch and also the most complicated Patek Philippe watch, Sky Moon Tourbillon Reference 5002. This watch features a number of complications such as a tourbillon, a perpetual calendar with the moon age display (number of days since the last full moon), leap year cycle, day of week, month and date indication. The back of the watch showcases a few indicators of the sidereal time, normal time, sky chart, and the phase and orbit of the moon. You can appreciate the starry sky of the northern hemisphere and the angular motion of the stars and the moon in a cycle of 29 days, 12 hours and 44 minutes.

In 2003 Patek presented the world's first mechanical movement with a power reserve of more than 10 days, Calibre Reference 5100 "10 jours". It is a rectangular shaped form movement comprising two series-connected barrels and a tourbillon. The movement was housed in the model 5101P 10 Day Tourbillon. This Patek Philippe watch came as a limited edition of 3000 pieces in four variants of materials: white gold, yellow gold, rose gold and platinum. 

Patek Philippe is a master when it comes to complications of watches, securing over 80 different patents. So let’s review some of its most notable models. 

Patek Philippe Nautilus

Introduced in 1976, this Patek Philippe Nautilus is considered to be one of the most influential models in the world of watches. The watch was designed by the talented designer Gérald Genta, who also designed the Royal Oak for Audemars Piguet and gained exceptional success. 

With a spark of inspiration, he personally brought his sketch for the Nautilus to Patek Philippe in 1974. After two years of development, Patek Philippe released its first sports watch. At that time, Patek Philippe was known for its luxury gold watches with sophisticated complication. The unexpected launch of this large and sporty watch Patek Philippe Nautilus had surprised the watch collectors over the world. 

The name Nautilus was inspired from Jules Verne's novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea". The submarine used by Captain Nemo was called Nautilus. The unusual case shape with a rounded octagonal bezel was inspired by a ship’s porthole. The case featured wide lugs with the lateral ears for a hinge on one side and a closure on the other. It allows the case to be more resistant to watch pressure. The watch offered water resistance to depths of 120 meter. 

The first watch in the Nautilus family came with the reference 3700 equipped with a 42 mm case which was considered quite large at the time when it was launched. The other famous ones in the family line should be Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 released in 2006 and the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5990 launched at Baselworld 2014.

Patek Philippe Aquanaut

Patek Philipe launched the Aquanaut watch in 1997 as a limited-edition lower-priced alternative to the luxurious Nautilus range. Although it was lower-priced, Patek Philippe Aquanaut is undoubtedly a true sports watch. 

The Patek Philippe Aquanaut is crafted with the brand’s exclusive technical excellence, high performance and sleek design. It features the iconic rounded octagonal case with modern configuration. The three-part case of the watch is equipped with the screw-down crown to provide extra protection and offer water resistance of 120m depth. 

The Patek Philippe Aquanaut is comfortable to wear while being resistant and hypoallergenic. Although you may think the strap of the watch was “only” rubber, the development of the strap lasted more than a year. Its production involved more than 20 different molecules, to support resistance to salt, UV rays and bacteria.