Patek... to me...is like the ultimate fraud.
As a serious watch collector who owned many Pateks (including the beyond-ludicrously over-rated Nautilus, which I sold in a few months because it felt so cheap even at the under 17K I paid new... the first year it came out) ... whenever I see Patek prices these days, I just laugh at the blindness of those who pay for this brand. I'm not trying to ridicule a fellow collector, but I am trying to say, please, take a critical look at Patek.
And I have no interest in a back and forth about Patek--I know the Patek Army will 'win.'
But check in with long time collectors--especially those who collect high end independents. Ask what their view is of Patek.
The argument I can see merit in--to collect Patek--is that a VERY, VERY few models, have strong market value--but most mortals make the mistake of thinking that MOST Pateks have strong market value--this is a painfully hard lesson to learn... that most Pateks suffer the same brutal after-market reality as all other brands...
So what is the attraction? This notion that it is "a Patek." But what does that mean to you? Ask yourself. And let it guide you.
I know, as years go by, my post here will be common knowledge... but today... it's in the extremest minority...
I understand there is a huge, organized gray-watch-market that upholds the prices in their own cash-interest that have nothing to do with the watches themselves... that have no relation to watchmaking at all...
I post this only in the hopes that a few more collectors, like myself when I started out-- will do the research and contribute to other brands or independents deserving.