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Patek Philippe & Co. (PP) is a Swiss watch manufacturer founded in 1851, located in Geneva and the Vallée de Joux. It designs and manufactures timepieces and movements including some of the most complicated mechanical watches. It is considered by many experts and aficionados to be one of the most prestigious watch brands along with Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin, and A. Lange & Söhne. Past owners of Patek Philippe watches include Pope Pius IX, Queen Victoria, Victor Emanuel III of Italy, Christian IX of Denmark. ==History== Polish watchmaker Antoni Patek started making pocket watches in 1839 in Geneva, along with his fellow Polish partner Franciszek Czapek. They separated in 1844, and in 1845 Patek joined with the French watchmaker Adrien Philippe, inventor of the key-less winding mechanism. Patek Philippe & Co was founded in 1851. Patek Philippe pioneered the perpetual calendar, split-seconds hand, chronograph, and minute repeater in watches. In 1976 the Swiss watchmaker introduced the Nautilus collection after deciding that it was time to also produce an exclusive sport watch with finishes of the highest quality. "The new model had a key role for Patek's overall marketing strategy as it had to refresh the brand image while perpetuating tradition. The target was represented by dynamic business managers of the new generations". Like other Swiss manufacturers, the company produces mostly mechanical movements of the automatic and manual wind variety, but has produced quartz watches in the past, and a digital wrist watch, the Ref. 3414. Patek were notable for being one of 20 Swiss watch companies to develop the first Swiss production watch the beta 21 used by other manufactures in watches such as the Omega Electroquartz watches Patek Philippe is notable for manufacturing its own watch components.〔 Patek Philippe timepieces have recorded high prices in auctions worldwide. A large part of the demand for auction pieces is driven by Patek Philippe themselves, as they are often purchasing in the auction market to add to the collection of the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva.〔Clerizo, Michael, ("Watch Auctions: Time Honored: With their mystique, brands like Patek Philippe can command hundreds of thousands of dollars at watch auctions" ), ''The Wall Street Journal'', April 29, 2010〕〔Frank, Robert, ("All That Glitters May Not Be Gold" ), ''The Wall Street Journal'', October 8, 2007〕〔(Patek Philippe Museum website )〕 In 2010, the company produced 40,000 watches.〔KPMG, ("Standing the Test of Time" ), pp.16-18, in ''Consumer Currents'', Issue 5, 2008, KPMG International〕 According to Thierry Stern, in 2012, they produced 50,000.〔GMT - Great Magazine of Timepieces, No. 31 - Spring 2013, Interview with Thierry Stern, P.80-82〕 The company has been owned by the Stern family since 1932, and, as of the late 2000s, led by Philippe Stern and his son Thierry Stern, who took over the reins from his father in 2010.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Patek Philippe & Co.」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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