Chopper88
39
When is something 'the best'?
Feb 18, 2014,08:35 AM
I like Patek very much, but I also dislike the 'best' label that most people slam on it, without them providing their reason(s).
I also dislike people who reason the other way around; Patek is better, because all Lange watches are hockey pucks. You can't call someone the best based on such a subjective thing. A 'the best' title should only be awarded to something which stands out amongst all others on the highest weighing factors of the measurement points we've all agreed on.
As a lot of people have said, and will say, I can't consider Patek being the best, but surely among the best. They've done some great things, and hold great patents. They build beautiful watches with a great eye for detail, and they might have a long lasting reputation for being great (or the best?). But what do all those things mean? When I see a Lange which sings to me, with an impeccable finish, compared to one of Patek's models which I don't like, should I buy the Patek because of the brand's history, or because someone else tells me the Lange is a hockey puck? Nonsense.
Comparing brands as a whole seems utterly useless to me, I like to put certain comparable watches side by side, and different brands will win on different occasions, but no watch will be chosen above another one, because it is made by a certain brand.
What is the point in seeing brand X as the best, when they produce 99 out of 100 watches nice as brand Y, but brand Y just has this one watch that I MUST have.
Besides this, on what grounds should brands be compared? Is it so great that it takes Patek 6 months longer to service my watch, at a price 4 times as high as a small independent maker? Or what about the fact that they won't sell me a piece that I want to have, because I'm not the first owner of at least 25 watches purchased in the last 2 years? I think each brand (since we're not talking watches right now) has their own pros and cons, leaving none as the best without negatives.
This is by no means an attack on the topic starter, nor Patek, as I do love the brand. Just saying there are so many factors to consider, making it rather useless to call someone the best in my opinion.