benlee338
680
Hi Patrick
Oct 28, 2018,17:43 PM
I am the OP on this subject. Thank you for your very detailed analysis and reply to my original post.
This writeup certainly brings a lot of credibility and pride for us PP owners and I learned a lot from it. I also greatly enjoyed the feedback and comments by other esteemed members in this forum.
I always feel that a watch's quality should be judged on it's entirely. Too often I find some collectors over obsessed over movement decoration as if it is all that matters. While great movement decoration is a visual treat to look and admire at our free time, I will argue that dial side of the watch is probably more important as when one wears a watch, it is always the dial side that we see most often ( unless it is a skeleton watch ). And of course also the case construction, bracelet, strap, even buckle are elements that makes a good watch visually appealing. After all, visual appeal is probably why we buy beautiful mechanical watches in the first place. And a big plus as you mentioned is that Patek watches are generally thinner than their counterparts, which actually makes them harder to make. Thus design does plays a big part.
I am surprise you mentioned Montblanc Villeret as having the nicest movement. I have seen one myself and my impression is that it is very nice but I won't say it is the best. It's about on par with a complicated movement like Lange Datograph. Again I am not equipped with the knowledge necessary to make an objective informed judgement, just my own subjection impression. Off my mind, I also find many independent brands ( which I am exploring ) such as Gonefiled, Akrivia and Roman Gauthier have nicer finishing.
One thing you did make clear in the write up is that the reason Patek is so successful has a lot to do with their effective marketing. That leads me to also wonder if hypothetically, the marketing is not as successful, or it is just on par with other brands in terms of effectiveness and budget, can Patek watches stand above the other brands purely on it's own quality and watchmaking merit? What is your view on this? Also do you feel that the large production numbers of Patek watches somehow means that the quality and attention to each watch will not be on par with say a watch of similar value but lavish with attention from an independent watchmaker?
The lack of movement innovation as mentioned in my original post appears to be a stick that critics liked to use to knock on PP. And if I may say my observation, some of the fiercest critics of PP appears to be ALS collectors which of course we know ALS is a movement maker and has been churning out new movement with apparent ease. Is it a matter of the bread-and-butter movements like the 324 and 240 movements are already for all intended purposes as good as it gets? Lastly, why no hacking movement in Patek watches? The answer I got is that introducing a hacking feature actually wears out the movement at the expenses of long term reliability. True?
I think all of us, after spending considerable sums of money on a watch brand, want to know that our choices are indeed made with considerable objective merit. However, whatever is the consensus answer, that will not distract my enjoyment of the two Patek watches I have. I mean, how to put it... I trust my own eyes more than anything. I have yet to find another watch brand ( including AP that I collects a lot ) that offer such attention to detail and finesses in their watches. I have tried Lange watches many times and the watches are very well made and their movements are beautiful ( and yes, eventually I probably will add one to my collection ) but somehow I have yet to get one until now because I have this nagging feeling that they just recycled the case design, everyone is the same round shape with the same convex outer bezel. Also, I have been told a JLC or Brequet or what have you in an equivalent line has the same quality at perhaps 2/3 or 1/2 the price but yet when I hold them and compare side by side, no way to my eyes they are of same level. This might have to do with Patek polishing which I find superior to most other brands except high end independents.
Lastly, do you mind to shift the original comments on my original thread to here? As I couldn't read them in their entirely since the post was put on hold. Thanks.
Just sharing my thoughts and look forward to hear from you again. And others are very welcome to chime in. Have a great week ahead!
Rgds
Ben