Exhibitions, like the one the iconic watchmaker is currently hosting in Singapore, have played a key role in the history of Patek Philippe
Although the company name of Patek, Philippe & Cie wasn’t registered until 1851, the two founders of the storied watchmaker in fact first came together in 1844. It was thanks to a fortuitous encounter at that year’s Products of Industry Exhibition in Paris that one of the most legendary partnerships in the history of horology was born.
French watchmaking prodigy Jean Adrien Philippe had been awarded a prize at the exhibition for the invention of a system that allowed pocket watches to be wound with an integrated stem, rather than an independent key. This remarkable, patented innovation—the basis for the stemwinding system that remains standard in most watches made to this day—brought Philippe to the attention of a Geneva-based, Polish-born entrepreneur named Antoine Norbert de Patek.
The former soldier, who’d been a decorated officer in the Polish cavalry, operated a business under the moniker of Patek & Cie, producing around 200 timepieces per year. But he was unhappy with his technical partner, watchmaker François Czapek, whom he found unreliable and unimaginative. In Jean Adrien Philippe, Patek felt he’d found a more conscientious, inventive collaborator. He swiftly split with Czapek, convinced Philippe to move to Geneva, and together, the duo set about taking the company to new heights.
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Royal Treatment
The year the business name was officially changed to Patek, Philippe & Cie, the watchmaker took part in another exhibition, which would prove pivotal to its future fortunes. At the 1851 Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in London, where curiosities and inventions from across the world were showcased to an awestruck Victorian public, Patek Philippe proved the highlight of the Swiss concession, wowing attendees with its stunning timepieces. These included chiming minute repeaters, touch watches for the visually impaired, watches featuring date functions, and the smallest watch ever made, with a movement of just 3/10 of an inch.
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The exhibition fell under the patronage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who were so taken by Philippe’s exquisite creations that they each acquired a timepiece—Victoria purchasing a pendant watch, Alfred a pocket watch: a yellow-gold hunter-cased chronometer with a repeater mechanism.
This royal seal of approval spawned interest from Britain and the continent’s privileged elite, and Patek Philippe quickly became a roaring success among the aristocratic and affluent of the old world. Following their example, newly-rich Americans of the Gilded Age began to hunger for haute horology, and by 1925, the States had become Patek Philippe’s biggest market.
