Patek Philippe Replica Watch SA is a Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer founded in 1839, located in Canton of Geneva and the Vallée de Joux. Since 1932, it has been owned by the Stern family in Switzerland. Patek Philippe is one of the oldest watch manufacturers in the world with an uninterrupted watchmaking history since its founding. It designs and manufactures timepieces as well as movements, including some of the most complicated mechanical watches. The company maintains over 400 retail locations globally and over a dozen distribution centers across Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania. In 2001, it opened the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva.
Patek Philippe is widely considered to be one of the most prestigious watch manufacturers in the world. Over the years, notable Patek Philippe patrons and timepieces owners include Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth II, Pope Pius IX, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, John F. Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Pablo Picasso, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and Leo Tolstoy. As of December 2019, among the world’s top ten most expensive watches ever sold at auctions, seven are Patek Philippe watches. In particular, Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300A-010 currently holds the title of the most expensive watch (and wristwatch) ever sold at auction (31.19 million US dollars or 31 million CHF), while Patek Philippe Henry Graves Supercomplication, the world’s most complicated mechanical watch until 1989, currently holds the title of the most expensive pocket watch ever sold at auction (24 million US dollars or 23,237,000 CHF).
Along with his fellow Czech-born Polish partner Franciszek Czapek, Polish watchmaker Antoni Patek formed Patek, Czapek & Cie in Geneva on May 1, 1839 and started making pocket watches. Eventually they separated due to disagreements and the company was liquidated on April 18, 1845. On May 1, 1845, Czapek founded Czapek & Cie with a new partner, Juliusz Gruzewski. On the other hand, Patek was soon joined by French watchmaker Adrien Philippe, the inventor of the keyless winding mechanism, and continued the watchmaking business with a new company, Patek & Cie, beginning May 15, 1845.
On January 1, 1851, the company’s name was officially changed to Patek, Philippe & Cie. In the same year, Queen Victoria of Britain acquired a keyless pendant watch at the Great Exhibition in London. The watch was embellished with rose-cut diamonds set in the pattern of a bouquet of flowers. The Queen had another exclusive Patek Philippe timepiece, to be worn pinned to clothing. This watch was suspended from a diamond and enamel brooch. In 1868, Patek Philippe created the first Swiss wristwatch for Countess Koscowicz of Hungary.
In March 1877, Antoni Patek passed away at the age of 65, but his only son, Léon Mecyslas Vincent, did not join the business. As a result, Joseph Antoine Bénassy-Philippe, one of Adrien Philippe’s sons-in-law, succeeded Antoni Patek’s position. In 1887, Calatrava Cross became the registered company logo of Patek Philippe. In 1891, the 76-year-old Adrien Philippe handed over his position in the business to his youngest son Joseph Emile Philippe, together with Francois Antoine Conty. Adrien Philippe died in January 1894.
1901 saw the transformation of Patek Philippe into a joint-stock company, Ancienne Manufacture d’horlogerie Patek, Philippe & Cie, Société Anonyme, initiated by J. A. Bénassy-Philippe and Joseph E. Philippe. Still being run a family business, Patek Philippe then had seven shareholders, five of whom formed the board of directors with J. A. Bénassy-Philippe being the chairman. Joseph E. Philippe’s son later joined the company, and he was the last offspring of the founders in the business. In 1915, Albert Einstein ordered a gold pocket watch from Patek Philippe; in that year, he completed his Theory of General Relativity.
The Swiss Stern family has owned Patek Philippe since 1932 when Charles Stern and Jean Stern acquired the company during the Great Depression. The Stern brothers’ company, Fabrique de Cadrans Sterns Frères, had been a business partner of Patek Philippe as its supplier of watch dials. In 1935, Patek Philippe was brought to American markets by New York-based Henri Stern Watch Agency, where it was sold as a sister brand alongside Universal Genève.
In 1958, Henri Stern, the son of Charles Stern, became the president of Patek Philippe. Alan Banbery, who previously designed Universal’s “Compax” movements and worked as a horologist for London’s Garrard & Co, would take on the position of Director of Sales in 1965 and later authored official reference books on vintage Patek Philippe pocket watches and chronographs.
In 1993, Philippe Stern, the son of Henry Stern, became the president of the company. He initiated the publication of the twice-a-year Patek Philippe Magazine in 1996, which is reserved for the watch owners and has received contributions from various prominent writers including Nobel Laureates Gao Xingjian and José Saramago. And in 2009, Philippe Stern’s son, Thierry Stern, took over the reins from his father in 2010. In 2010, the company produced 40,000 timepieces and, according to Thierry Stern, it produced 58,000 pieces in 2017. In 2018, the number went up to 62,000, and in order to maintain quality and exclusivity, Patek Philippe would only slowly increase the number of timepieces produced each year (by 1-3 percent per year) but with a ceiling. Currently, the company is an active member of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH.
Since 2000s, Buy Patek Philippe replica watch timepieces have repeatedly fetched high prices in auctions worldwide. As of 2018, among the world’s top ten most expensive watches ever sold at auctions, seven are Patek Philippe watches. Among the top 58 most expensive watches sold at auction (over 2 million US dollars), 46 are Patek Philippe watches. A small part of the demand for auction pieces is driven by Patek Philippe themselves, as they are purchasing in the auction market to add to the collection of the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva.
