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Patek Philippe

Patek Philippe

Net Worth

$1,420,000,000

Started in (City)

Canton of Geneva

Started in (Country)

Switzerland

Incorporation Date

01st December, 1839

Bankruptcy Date

-

Founders

  • Antoni Patek
  • Franciszek Czapek
  • Adrien Philippe

About

Patek Phillippe is one of the world’s oldest and longest-running watch companies. The company recently celebrated its 181st anniversary this year. Patek Phillippe is well known for its excellent craftsmanship and artisanship in watch design, hailing from Switzerland is it's impeccable watch designs

Beginning

Antoine Norbert Patek was born in 1812 in Poland. He joined Polish Rifles Regiment and fought in November Uprising war from 1830-1831. After the war, he received Virtuti Militari, the highest military decoration. Patek moved to France where he lived for a while and later was forced to move to Switzerland. He lived in Geneva where he was fascinated by the watching making that included designs, artistry work, and craftsmanship. Patek then settled in a polish watchmaking company where he got familiar with Francois Czapek. On May 1, 1839, Patek, Czapek & Cie was founded by Antoine Norbert Patek and Francois Czapek. They made custom pocket watches and they prioritized the royalty of the watch. But the company doesn’t have a plum start. With time there grew conflict between Patek and Czapek which led the company to part away. Patek then moved on in search of another partner.

Road to Success

Jean Adrien Philippe was born in 1815 in France. He was the son of a watchmaker. Philippe then settled in Paris. He invented a pocket watch which he patented for a mechanism to set a watch with the help of a crown and removed a key which now doesn’t require to wound the watch. In 1845, Philippe introduced his watch in the Industrial Exhibition in Paris. Patek got acquainted with Philippe and a year later, Philippe joined Patek’s existing company and was appointed as Technical Director. In the Year 1860 and 1861, Phillippe patented two more systems in addition to its present crown mechanism. In 1941, Perpetual Calendar Chronograph was introduced. The first watch, Ref. 1518 was made and in 2016 it became the world’s most expensive wristwatch ever sold at auction. The next model Ref. 2499 was introduced but the company only manufactured a total of 349 pieces, each year 9. Ref. 2499 ranks 11th in the list of 59 world’s most expensive watches sold at auction. In 1958, Henri became the president of the company. He then started collecting the rare pieces and the engraved and decorated watches which did not make a sale were also collect by Henri. Later this led to the foundation of the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva. In 1976, the Company decided to manufacture a sports watch, and the Nautilus Wristwatch collection was introduced. The first model to make it in the market was Ref. 3700 which was designed by Gerald Genta, a Swiss Watchmaker. The design and material structure of the watch was perfectly designed and the watch embarked on the reputation of the company. Ref. 5711 and Ref. 5712 were introduced in 2006 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Nautilus collection.

Challenges

In 1929 there occurred a devastating event, The Wall Street Crash also known as Black Tuesday. The Wall Street Crash brought the Great Depression alongside. Like every industry, Patek Philippe wasn’t on the radar of mercy. This financial crash left options for the director to sell some of its percentages. The directors contacted Jean and Charles Stern Brothers who owned “Cadrans Stern Freres”, a company that precisely manufacture dials and was a preferred supplier of Patek Philippe. The Brothers pulled Patek Philippe out of the crisis and bought a stake in the company. Later in 1932, The Stern Brothers owned the Patek Philippe company.

Failures

In an arduous journey to greatness, it's a ritual to fail until you succeed. They say daunting failures make up for half of your success and the rest, you. It's one of the reasons, Patek Philippe's dealer network was recently trimmed by about a third. "I could not supply enough, and I had no choice. I didn't want to increase the production. The only thing I could do was to decrease the number of retailers so that the others could have enough stock." In the U.S., the dealer network shrank from 160 ADs to around 100.

Subsidies

  • The Henri Stern Watch Agency Inc.
  • Patek Philippe Salon Ltd
  • Patek Philippe France, etc.

CEOs

  • Philippe Stern
  • Claude Peny