In 2013, a Christie’s auction stunned the world with a record setting, eye watering sale of a Patek Philippe Grand Complication. The specific watch in question? Stephen S. Palmer Patek Philippe Grand Complication. The hammered price? USD2.25 million for a Patek Philippe Grand Complication pocket watch completed in 1898 and sold in…
If you’re a soccer fan and you’ve been in the watch industry long enough, you start to see patterns in the many sponsorships which can develop during the course of a few seasons – some of them are surprisingly magical – no, I’m not going to wax lyrical about how mechanical watches represent the…
As our smartphones get Leica cameras, better optics, faster processors and biometric security sensors, you’d think they’d be getting more expensive. But they aren’t, in fact they’re getting cheaper. In 1960, a young computing engineer from the University of Pennsylvania introduced us to the concept of…
Bulgari belongs to the very few brands that can make grande complications such as chiming watches from start to finish. The entire spectrum of the grand endeavour in the rarified realm of the highest of high horology is not a simple task – it first involves conception – a grand gesture of creative genius, taking for example…
A recent survey report compiled by The Reputation Institute (RI), a Boston reputation management consulting firm, has uncovered that for a second consecutive year that Rolex has lead a list of the most reputable brands on the planet. Rolex’s retention of the top position underscores the market’s perception of the undeniable…
Given its importance in our perma-growth model of global economics, conspicuous consumption makes the world go round. In general, the luxury industry stands as a world unto itself, it defies traditional business models in that it supplies a desire for goods that people arguably need, at super-premium prices (thus enjoying exceptional profit…
As material sciences advanced, watchmaking and watch decoration eventually progressed into specialist fields, executed by professionals in separate departments of a modern manufacture. However, for men like Abraham-Louis Breguet, the watchmaking conundrum was dual-pronged – a test of engineering and a challenge of material sciences.…
Over 20 years ago, Patek Philippe had unified all of its operating and production units from a scattering of facilities across Geneva into a central campus in Plan Les Ouates. While that might seem good business sense, it was a high risk decision made during the 1995-96 period of industry turmoil. Yet, two decades down the line Thierry Stern…
Increasingly, watch fairs like SIHH and Baselworld are headlined by the complications of the grandest and most expensive forms. They’re beautiful, head-turning and as a result, outclass most of the other watches a brand might release. A common joke (warning: it’s fairly gauche) amongst men is the fear of going to bed with a…
To discuss Bulgari grand complications and their dedication to high end watchmaking is to return back to the very start of its founding in Rome, 1884. That is not to imply that Bulgari and their history of watchmaking extends to such a distant past but rather the planting of a seed of insight into the innovation and creativity which has…