The Poor Refugee Who Invented Patek Philippe

nobody could have guessed the legacy this polish refugee would leave behind despite all the trials and tribulations he followed his dreams and he turned his passion into one of the most iconic watch manufacturers in the world anthony norbert depatec was born in pyatsky in poland in 1812 he grew up in testing times at the age of 16 he joined the polish cavalry and he later fought in the polish-russian war towards the end of the war he received the virtuti military poland's highest military decoration for acts of heroism but later in that year the polish uprising was crushed and antoni and his fellow soldiers were forced to relocate to western europe he initially settled in france but after an unfavorable decree was issued by the french government he had to move on once again this time he settled in geneva in switzerland and tony was fascinated by geneva's watchmaking heritage and as a refugee he sought the company of other immigrants it didn't take long before he became acquainted with francoise sapec a polish watchmaker of czech descent they exchanged their watchmaking visions and dreams and on the first of may 1839 patek shepek nc was formed little did antoni know this would mark the beginning of a lasting legacy but one that wouldn't include francois while their company was successful increasing discord between antoni and francois made them part ways now antoni was once again on the lookout for a new partner and while visiting the french industrial exposition of 1844 it seemed like he finally found that special person at the 1844 exposition anthony met gifted french watchmaker jean-adrian philippe jean was born in 1815 in la bazochoye france and as the son of a watchmaker the craft ran in his family at the age of 18 he left his hometown to hone his watchmaking skills and in his quest for perfection he traveled to london where he worked for a reputable watchmaker for three years after having returned to france he chose versailles as his domicile but unfortunately business was disappointing not one to give up on his dreams he resettled in paris he was brimming with ideas and had a knack for tinkering with objects and he eventually invented a mechanism that allowed pocket watches to be wound without requiring a separate key it was a breakthrough moment and by displaying this patented invention at the industrial exposition in paris his life changed forever not only was he awarded a gold medal but he also caught antony's eye a year after their encounter antoni terminated his partnership with francois and jean joined the team as technical director together with a third partner vincent gostkowski they established a new company under the name patek and key and in 1851 they renamed it patek philippe nc while anthony dedicated himself to the pursuit of an innovative marketing style jean was responsible for the production processes and the manufacturing and development of the watches they hoped their watches would rank among the world's most sought-after timepieces but would their different working styles match while anthony loved artisanal perfection and lavish decorations jean was more driven by his horological aspirations and the refinement of the underlying technologies he didn't want to produce mere luxurious works of art that looked great he wanted them to work great too during the next two decades business went well but anthony had long been suffering from anemia and he eventually passed away in 1877. he was 65 years old anthony's son leon was only 20 at the time and he did not want to join the company so he ceded all rights in exchange for an annual payment of 10 000 francs in the following years patek philippe established its name while winning gold medals and participating in numerous exhibits throughout the world one of their most special partnerships of this time was the relationship they established with gondolo and labarao of rio de janeiro the relationship lasted for nearly half a century and it carried patek philippe through some difficult times at a time when europe was struggling and faced a world war it was gondalo and laboral who retailed nearly a third of the entire production of patek philippe watches in fact sales were so spectacular that in brazil patek even became synonymous with the word watch instead of buying a watch you bought a patek even if it wasn't a patek philippe at all unfortunately jean only lived to see two decades of the fruitful partnership as he passed away in 1892 two years earlier he had already handed his position over to his youngest son joseph emil philippe and after joseph's death his son adrian became the last person with either a patek or philippe family name to run the company to make matters worse by 1932 the business had become financially distressed due to the global economic crisis they needed a buyer and they needed one now the wall street crash of 1929 was one of the most devastating stock market crashes in the history of the united states also known as black tuesday it signaled the beginning of the 12-year great depression that impacted the entire world patek philippe and key was not spared and they suffered financially as many customers defaulted on payment obligations the directors knew they had to do something drastic if they wanted to avoid being taken over by a competitor and so they contracted brothers charles and john stern the stern brothers were no random strangers though they already owned a company cadryn stern freres with which they produced top quality dials and they ranked among patek philippe's preferred suppliers seeing a great business opportunity and wanting to preserve swiss watchmaking tradition the stern brothers not only helped patek philippe out but also took a stake in the company in 1932 and by the next year they had wholly acquired it not feeling ready to take over the helm entirely they hired respected watchmaker and horological specialist john feister as the firm's chief executive they immediately got to work and before the year 1932 ended they launched reference 96. in 1934 charles stern was appointed chairman of the board of directors and his son henry joined the company to assist him but a third generation stern family member had begun to work his way up the ladder too henry's son philippe was born in 1938 he spent part of his childhood in the usa and because of his family background he was acutely aware of watchmaking traditions in geneva while also being familiar with modern trends long before they were adopted in europe although he was deeply interested in patek philippe he initially opted for an information technology career and when he finally joined patek philippe in geneva in 1966 he first had to acquaint himself with all the operations what felipe stern learned in the computer world began manifesting itself in the watch industry as well a seemingly endless cycle of ever faster and more radical technical developments and just like rolex and all other swiss watchmakers patek philippe would soon be facing an unexpected crisis you see between 1970 and 1980 a so-called quartz crisis was taking place instead of having a mechanical movement quartz watches were battery powered they were more precise and cost less to make and while the first japanese quartz wrist watches were quite expensive prices began to drop drastically in the 1970s all around the world people switched from mechanical watches to quartz watches and their proliferation decimated the swiss watch industry as felipe was appointed ceo in 1977 he was right in the midst of it all he knew that for classic mechanical watches to stand a chance they would have to be a real high-end product and he quickly began recruiting engineers to transform patek philippe from the ground up the commitment to artisanship would be preserved but the watches would now be designed on the basis of detailed blueprints this would not only improve the quality and assure the reproducibility of components but also guarantee patek philippe's ability to repair all its own watches inventiveness had always been one of patek philippe's core values and for them upholding tradition never meant shunning innovation as felipe stern once explained everything that a hand can do better than a machine we will do but when a machine can assist the work of a person we will not adhere blindly to tradition in 1993 henry stern transferred the presidency to philippe and the next year philippe's son ferry joined the company as a member of the family's fourth generation today patek philippe is widely viewed as one of the most prestigious watchmaking names and all around the world people know the brand as a leading manufacturer of fine mechanical timepieces its history began nearly two centuries ago and while many watch brands claim to be older most of them discontinued their activities along the way and were then re-established by completely foreign people at a much later date patek philippe on the other hand has endeavored since its inception and has always been privately owned when it comes to marketing patek philippe has never been overly flashy it doesn't look for endorsements from star footballers and rappers the way other brands do and while they can boast that their clients included queen victoria they have generally shied away from celebrity endorsements but that doesn't mean that celebrities shy away from them too from jay-z to ed sheeran it seems like everyone loves to own a nice patek philippe at patek philippe however they would probably say that the word own should be taken in context after all their famous slogan is you never actually own a patek philippe you merely look after it for the next generation and it seems like that can be said about their business too patek philippe prides itself on being the last independently owned watchmaker in geneva ever since charles and john stern acquired the company in 1932 the brand has remained in the hands of the stern family and this independence has enabled the company to go on its own way and control its own destiny while never letting go of pursuing its long-term vision did you know of patek philippe's interesting history and which brand would you like us to cover next share it in the comments and make sure to head on over to our channel if you'd like to see more inspiring business videos

Channel: Business Stories

Views: 194,805

Keywords: Business Stories, Patek Philippe, Patek Philippe history, Patek Philippe documentary, Patek Philippe story, history of patek philippe, patek philippe brand, how patek philippe started, how patek philippe is made, patek philippe owner, patek philippe founder, stern family, stern patek philippe, patek phli, patek philippe watch history, patek philippe watch, patek philippe company

Id: ZpawcvoxYrk

Length: 11min 55sec (715 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 11 2022