Patek Philippe SA (French: [paˈtɛk fiˈlip]) is a Swiss luxury watchmaker and clock manufacturer, located in the Canton of Geneva and the Vallée de Joux.

Since 1932, the company has been owned by the Stern family in Switzerland[4] and remains the last family-owned independent watch manufacturer in Geneva.

[5] Patek Philippe is one of the oldest watch manufacturers in the world with an uninterrupted watchmaking history since its founding.

The company maintains over 400 retail locations globally and over a dozen distribution centers across Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania.

[17][18] The company traces its origins to the mid-19th century, when Polish watchmaker Antoni Patek and his Czech-born Polish business partner Franciszek Czapek formed Patek, Czapek & Cie in Geneva on 1 May 1839 and started manufacturing pocket watches.

[22] Subsequently, Patek was joined by French watchmaker Adrien Philippe, the inventor of the keyless winding mechanism (although this had been discovered previously by Abraham Louis Breguet but not patented by him), and continued the watchmaking business with a new company, Patek & Cie, beginning on 15 May 1845.

[21] On 1 January 1851, the company's name was officially changed to Patek, Philippe & Cie.[19] In the same year, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom acquired a keyless pendant watch at the Great Exhibition in London.

[20][26] As a result, Joseph Antoine Bénassy-Philippe, one of Adrien Philippe's sons-in-law, succeeded to Antoni Patek's position.

[26] In 1915, Albert Einstein ordered a gold pocket watch from Patek Philippe; in that year, he completed his Theory of General Relativity.

In 1935, Patek Philippe was brought to American markets by New York-based Henri Stern Watch Agency, where it was sold as a sister brand alongside Universal Genève.

[4][34] Alan Banbery, who previously designed Universal's "Compax" movements and worked as a horologist for London's Garrard & Co, would take on the position of Director of Sales in 1965 and later authored official reference books on vintage Patek Philippe pocket watches and chronographs.

[4][34] He initiated the publication of the twice-a-year Patek Philippe Magazine in 1996, which is reserved for the watch owners and has received contributions from various prominent writers including Nobel Laureates Gao Xingjian and José Saramago.

[53] Patek Philippe popularized complications such as perpetual calendar, split-seconds hand, chronograph, and minute repeater in mechanical watches.

[54][55][56] In 2009, the company announced that all of its future mechanical timepieces would be imprinted with the Patek Philippe Seal which requires a precision of -3/+2 seconds per day for diameters no less than 20 mm and -5/+4 seconds per day for diameters less than 20 mm, surpassing the highest industry standard of watch manufacturing and thus abandoning the Geneva Seal.

[57][58][59] In December 2018, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) released a report assigning environmental ratings for 15 major watch manufacturers and jewelers in Switzerland.

96, which was designed by English horologist David Penney who was influenced by the Bauhaus art movement in Germany.

[19][85][86] Originally, the Stern brothers, soon after they acquired Patek Philippe in 1932, introduced the Calatrava to help the company pass through the Great Depression smoothly.

[86][88] Known for its simple and elegant design, the Calatrava wristwatch has been a flagship model of Patek Philippe since its introduction.

[92][93] In 1976, Patek Philippe introduced the Nautilus collection after deciding it was time to produce an exclusive sport watch with finishes of the highest quality.

[96] It was designed by Swiss watchmaker Gérald Genta, who previously designed the Royal Oak collection for Audemars Piguet, and was released by Patek Philippe during the quartz crisis in the hope that it would help re-attract people's attention to high-end Swiss mechanical watches.

[95] The Nautilus collection played a key role in Patek Philippe's overall marketing strategy as it had to refresh the brand image while perpetuating tradition.

[95][98] In 1997, Patek Philippe introduced the Aquanaut collection, marking a departure from their traditional dress watches.

This signature rubber strap, a first for Patek Philippe, was composed of a new composite material designed for durability and comfort.

The Aquanaut has become a highly successful collection for Patek Philippe, known for its blend of sportiness, luxury, and everyday wearability.

2499 holds eleven spots among the 59 world's most expensive watches sold at auction (over 2 million US dollars) and at least 18 pieces of Ref.

[105][106] The wristwatch has two dials and contains 12 complications including tourbillon, minute repeater, sky chart, and moon phase & orbit.

[106] However, every purchase of the piece requires an application from the buyer and has to be approved by Patek Philippe President Thierry Stern.

6300 also has 20 complications, including grande sonnerie, minute repeater, and alarm with time strike (but without tourbillon), with the sale price over 2.2 million US dollars.

[121][122] The purchase of each piece requires an application from the buyer and has to be approved by Patek Philippe President Thierry Stern.

[119] In 2024, Patek Philippe introduces a new collection called Cubitus, presenting an exclusive interpretation of the “casual chic” style.