So why does Patek have the esteem that it gets, clue- nothing to do with Nautilus and Aquanauts
I think I might have some inclination for this: Here are some observations ...
They sure had some great ebauche suppliers 😁
I think setting the time by pulling out the crown was probably Patek's most important contribution to watchmaking. That was a huge deal. Also possibly the first to do multi-position crowns.
Pendant winding and setting mechanism wasn't even a Philippe first
The combined pendant winding and setting mechanism can be found already in a 1838 watch by Hector Audemars. That is 4 years before the invention by Adrien Philippe (when he was working independently in Paris, some years before joining with Patek in Switze...
Philippe was the first to use a sliding pinion with negative setting afaik
The Hector Audemars system was push-set with a rocker, right?
Not sure of the technicalities
I just know that the (now closed) Musée d’Horlogerie de la Vallée de Joux used to have the Hector Audemars watch and described it as the first of its kind, also listing the later systems developped by Adrien Philippe (1942), Adolphe Nicole (1846), and Ant...
We don't use the Audemars system today, we use Philippe's system today
Sliding pinion in Seiko 6128B Patek Philippe 7'676 Negative setting is when you pull out the crown to set the time, which Philippe was doing as early as 1842, probably earlier. Philippe didn't invent stem wind/set, but he invented the specific type of ste...
I wish they'd rerelease some of the designs from the past
There isn't really anything in the current catalog that captures the classic PP perpetual look imo
These are what made Patek the household name it is today
Thierry should take some notes
Ah the good old days..
Now they’re making 72,000 plus a year and both QC and innovation gone downhill sadly.
