Patek Phillipe watches are considered to be very expensive and luxurious… but why do people pay the price they pay for these watches?
Patek Phillipe Nautilus: Valued at around £50,000
1. Provenance and innovation
Patek Philippe has been making watches since 1839. They have pioneered many groundbreaking innovations that are still being used in horology today – e.g. the hand-winding two-hand watch, the perpetual calendar, and split-second chronograph.
They have been given over 100 patents for these innovations.
2. Exceptional craftsmanship
Each Patek Philippe watch, with as many as 252 individual parts, are all assembled by hand.
Even the parts that are unseen by the wearer, such as the movements, are assembled in obsessive detail; and no shortcuts were made.
3. Scarcity
Today, the watch industry produces roughly about 20 million timepieces a year; and only 50,000 of those are Patek Philippe.
Patek Philippe’s production numbers are low because of its detailed production process. It takes about nine months to make a Patek Philippe watch; and as long as 2 years to make the more complicated styles.
4. Detailed, well-kept archives
Every Patek Philippe watch has a searchable record available at the company’s archives.
5. Investment value
Patek Philippe watches are known to hold their value well. One of the reasons for this is that it remains an independent, family-owned company, who has a firm grip on its production, distribution, and value.
But many argue they are nothing more than a statement piece, and that the rich who buy them don’t actually appreciate the craftsmanship and detail that goes into these beautiful watches. This extract was taken from a forum, as a response to someone who asked a similar quesion; “why are patek’s so expensive”.
“A product being expensive because it’s rare is not a good enough reason for a rational agent to buy it on it intrinsic qualities. Then the thinking went further and I read the “you get what you pay for” argument. There I went nah again. Patek watches are not exceptional. They are good even better than good, but are they worth 20 000 USD for a simple steel diving watch (Aquanaut)? No. Are they worth being treated by an official dealer in the following manner: you make the deposit, we will call you in 5 years (the waiting time), if you don’t pay and collect the same day we sell the watch to someone else and keep the deposit. Uh? You jokin’? The horrible fact is that Pateks are not bought for being great watches of “haute horlogerie” but as status symbols for the upper class (whilst Rolex is a status symbol for the upper middle class). So you don’t buy a watch, you buy “belonging”. Unfortunately, as the word spreads and more and more Pateks are on the wrists of footballers and drug dealers the maximum veblen effect has been reached. Pateks buy smug smiles on your face at an expensive country club, or at the breakfast table of a hotel ranked in the worldwide top ten on goop. That is the reason they are so expensive. But is that worth it? Or did we just see the other guest with no watch drive up with that 1.5 mio vintage car?
The majority of buyers don’t care that the edges of the mechanism are polished by hand at an angle op 45°. That the pinions are all rounded or that the rubber bracelet is not actually rubber but a specific tropical compound. They flash it, discreetly and perversely. They know someone knows.”
It’s all down to perspective at the end of the day. I can guarantee that there are Patek owners that haven’t bought them because of the fact that they’re a status symbol. But what the user is saying makes sense. I’d be interested in hearing other peoples opinions on the matter, so leave a comment below saying what you think.
