Patek Philippe Highlights

Description

On May 1st, 1839 two Polish immigrants, Antoine Norbert de Patek (Salesman) and Francois Czapek (Watchmaker) joined forces to found 'Patek, Czapek & Cie'. Today Patek Philippe S.A remains a family owned firm, with 3rd and 4th generation at its head: Mr. Philippe Stern, President and Mr. Thierry Stern, his son, Vice-President. The Swiss manufacturer stands for innovation and perfection and today has more than 70 patents at its disposal including the famous annual calendar. It is the only manufacturer that crafts all of its mechanical movements according to the strict specifications of the Geneva Seal. This book includes a compilation of the best Patek Philippe watch models that were developed and sold over the last few years. It contains primarily men's watches, for example the famous Calibre 89 which was created in celebration of the 150th anniversary in 1989. It took nine years to design the watch which is classified as the most complicated in the world. Among these are also several women's watches and pocket watches. All in all this new, beautifully illustrated 'Highlights' title provides all-important facts on the clockwork, the functions, the cases and retail prices. Review: Patek Phillippe HIGHLIGHTS - hardback book - If you are interested in high-end watches and in particular Patek Philippe, then this book is lightweight and uninspired. It provides a brief history of the company and its founders, and then follows with a number of early models with pictures and specification (pretty much brochure-like). The second half of the book deals with modern PP watches with the same format. It includes very brief descriptions of complications and super complications, but nothing very informative. I would have thought that there would have been scope to easily include more information about complications and some deatiled pictures/schematics on the calibres produced by PP. The language is down as ENGLISH, but the book is repeated both in German and English, so a lot of wasted space. If this was produced in English only (as advertised) then there could have been a lot more detail. I recently purchased the Patek Philippe 2010/20111 hardback brochure with over 200 pages on eBay for under £15 including postage, and this gave loads more information and for me is my definitive guide. So, don't waste your money on this book and get something a lot more comprehensive. Review: Disappointing - This seems much more of a catalogue of 2009 watches than the “essential acquisition” promised by the blurb. Disappointing.