There are many other brands with great products and beautifully designed timepieces. Vacheron Constantin, A. Lange & Soehne, Breguet, Audemars Piguet, and a few others. Why does Patek Philippe stand out? Probably because Patek Philippe has more well designed pieces with beautiful dials and cases than some of these other brands. But in all honesty, are the mechanicals better than other brands? Is the movement finishing better? I could even argue that Lange's products are better made in some ways. Every Lange is double assembled, only Patek Philippe's perpetual calendars and higher complications are double assembled.
Marketing of the Patek Philippe brand also sets it apart from the other top tier brands. People can't get enough of the "you hold onto it for the next generation."
But... I find that the collectors of Patek Philippe who focus only on the Patek Philippe microcosm can be tiresome. There are certainly a lot of those whom buy just the brand and have no understanding of the product. I don't blame Patek Philippe, but it was once something special to have a nice Patek Philippe. Now, it's the go-to brand for everyone who wants to have a nice watch who don't even understand what a nice watch is all about.
Congrats to Patek Philippe on their success. I just wished that Patek Philippe's success translated to more fun for me.
At least when I go to a Richard Mille "guardian" he's happy to chat about his watch and cars and we end up having a fun conversation. With Patek Philippe "guardians" I'm rarely getting that nowadays, unless they're PuristS.