It is speculating to know that regular pieces of objects in your everyday life can be as expensive as the fortunes that you have been working hard for the entire years of your ‘adult life’. Well, it is speculating for a regular Joe like me when I think about a Patek Philippe timepiece. I just want to put all honesty before I get into debunking about if it is worth it or not. When I think about the price of a Patek Philippe wristwatch, I think about that money that could also be spent on college debt, house and car maintenance and everyday expenses.
MILAN - FEBRUARY 25: Man with Patek Philippe watch and preppy bracelet before Ermanno Scervino fashion show, Milan Fashion Week street style on February 25, 2017 in Milan.
Putting a regular Joe’s problems aside, my speculation has gone through a deep curiosity of the value of a Patek Philippe watch. What is it? And why does it hold such great value?
Do You Even Know What a Patek Philippe is?
The brand is very much known for its complexity into the design of mechanical watches. The timepiece manufacturing company started their business in Geneva, Switzerland. The polish Watchmaker, Antoni Patek and with his co-founder and fellowman, Franciszek Czapek started making pocket watches. It started going popular in New York in 1935 and became worldwide, so-on and so-forth. Each watches that are released is adored by every aficionados/experts for its expertise and originality. Patek Philippe is known as the only manufacturing company who makes their own watch components and they even contribute innovative components to the whole watch industry. Talk about legacy.
Patek Philippe is like the Notorious B.I.G of the watch industry. In cuisine, it would be the Gordon Ramsey of the fancy food dishes. But even though I compared it with some of the best rappers/chef, it is not considered the best of the best. In fact, it is one of the best since it is part of the Holy Trinity of the watch industry. When you mention the Holy Trinity of watches, you can’t even compare a Rolex from the ‘Big Three’.
BANGKOK - MARCH 17, 2016: Patek Philippe store at the Siam Paragon mall. Patek Philippe is a Swiss watch manufacturer of timepieces and movements, including the most complicated mechanical watches.
As much as certain reference tell me how fancy and big it is to own one. Let’s tackle about the cost and why it’s said to be worth it.
How Much Does it Cost?
Fun fact: One rare piece from Patek Philippe takes about three to nine years to complete the design process. It also takes about thousands of very well-educated watch manufacturers to execute it. Why? Because everything about the watch is made out of hand. The company is also known for making really complex designs.
The Grandmaster Chime is known to be very complex up-to-date, with a stacking price tag $2.5 million. It has 20 complications, 2 dials and 214 parts. This watch even took 8 years to complete and about a hundred thousand of man power. It features a minute repeater, a perpetual calendar with a four-digit display, and a second time zone. This wristwatch can do two things and that is to show time and to show the calendar. The watch is made with 18k rose gold and even the strap is hand-stitched.
A good old watch from the history books is The Henry Graves Jr. Supercomplication with a whopping price of $23.98 million. It has two dials, 24 complications, more than 900 parts and a weight of over 1 pound. This watch has pushed so much boundaries. It also features a perpetual calendar, a minute repeater with Westminster Chimes, sidereal time and a celestial chart including a mapping of the sky over Manhattan. It is auctioned and sold to Henry Graves Jr. who is a millionaire and an advocate for watch-collecting.
An article said, “Their reputation is as a top-tier watchmaker that produces products that will stand the test of time.” So you’re not only paying for an ordinary ‘watch’, you are buying ‘innovativeness’ as a timepiece.
Who Can Buy the Watch?
If you have about $3 million dollars in the bank (which is, supposed to be the standard price for one watch in Patek Philippe) then you can buy one. I think it would be better for someone like me to lay my hands off my child’s ‘pre-school money’ (it hasn’t even reached a million yet) just to buy a Patek Philippe watch. But if you have a net worth of a billion dollars as a human being (are you even human?) then why not? Or you are someone who loves to own one and is considered a self-acclaimed big spender and are very willing to buy it.
More: Why it would be a good investment if you buy one of their timepieces?
Many celebrities, entrepreneurs, and royalties own watches from Patek Philippe. Like Queen Victoria, Christian IX, and Princess Louise of Denmark. Celebrities like Brad Pitt, Robert Downey Jr. and even the Dalai Lama.
It used to be that people who attained such extraordinary lives are the only people who can purchase the watch and their names will be placed in the archives of the company. The archives is a library that has all the written record of those who purchased every piece of watches in the company.
The Answer?
As much as I am broke, I strongly agree that you should be ambitious enough to buy one. It’s not really that necessary to have one though, but many are so intrigued because every creation from Patek Philippe is historical and timeless. If you own a Patek Philippe, then you must be someone with big bucks or you are just quite extraordinary.
Watch this video if you want to know more about the manufacturing company: