Patek Philippe

when I think of Breguet, I think of the guilloche dial, with Lange of the large date, Rolex of the oyster case, Swatch the colourful plastic...

What is the typical Patek trait?

M.

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... some might tell you that for rolex its the bracelet president, the dial within the dial for Lange, or the royal oak bezel of AP, etc...
If we are talking DNA, its a good question, not that obvious for Patek. I guess it would be the simple dial of the calatrava. But for me, its the nautilus line, but its personal, as it was the 1st patek that i saw decades ago, and in my mind, i associate Patek to the nautilus, like i associate AP to the royal oak. Then again, its hard to tell you what in the nautilus i assicate with Patek .
Very good question

It would have been easier to speak about which model we associate with each brand
JLC : reverso
Lange : LAnge 1
Rolex : daydate
AP : Royal oak
Patek : ... Calatrava

I wonder why people always talk about the Calatrava when we speak about the incons.

I have several books about Patek Philippe watches and when reading them, 80% is about the chronographs and the chronographs perpetual

... strange indeed. Interesting topics.

probably published within the past twenty years and it has been within that time that the Patek icon has shifted somewhat from the simple calatrava (ref 96,etc.), as mentioned earlier, to the complicated pieces which has gained dramatically in recent years, in both demand and popularity.

I would tend to think the calatrava dial best represents Patek since its design is still being used after being introduced 78 years ago. The clock dial on Patek's building in Geneva probably confirms their own feeling of the calatrava's iconic design as well.

When I think of Patek, I immediately think of the look of the ref 96, not a 3940, 3970, 5070, 5970 even though they seem to be what everyone loves to talk about.  They simply haven't had the longevity of the calatrava.

the books are indeed not that old. The oldest I have is 31 years old (Uhren Von Patek Philippe Exemplar Limitierten Luxusausgabe (Limited Deluxe Edition )

This book contains mostly pocket watches.

I think that Patek switched from complicated pocket watches to complicated wrsitwatches. The pocket watches in these older books are mostly complicated pocket wristwatches. The wristwatches were simple and not that often complicated. Today the demand for complicated pocket watches is very small and like you said, the demand for complicated wristwatches is huge. So they put all their knowhow in complicated wristwatches.

Things change and imo icons change too. I would dare to say that the complicated wristwatches and especially chrono and chrono perpetual are the new icons

is what makes them special.

the nearest they have i guess is the classic calatrava, but its the diversity that makes them special

for a company making just 40,000 pcs/annum

the number of collections and different models is just amazing

but maybe for a signature the plain calatrava i guess

as for the symbolic model / series.... 1518-2499-3970-5970

best

Imran

and quality.

Cheers

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in my view, the difference between Patek and other brands is that on the latter there is an easy association, for example:
Rolex: oyster case, bubble date
AP- Royal Oak (shame, their grand comps are incredible but it really has become the OO company)
JLC- Reverso

with Patek, I thin there are many different associations:
Nautilus
24
Aquanat
Calatrava
Gondolo

BUT- the I believe that the reality is that perpetual chronos and minute repeater tourbillons (small seconds, mechanical) have an aura and quality that is exceptional (and are advertised quite well, with all the application business which is really a variable notion etc) that affects perceptions across the range, cascading to everything else. If there was no 1518, 2499, 3970, 5970, 5004, 3939, 5016, 5207 im not sure the brand would be where it is today

just my 2c!

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that no one has used the word "expensive".  It is certainly a characteristic that transcends all of Patek's product line, does it not? 

Steve