The big one Walt Disney he underlined: «It’s fun to be able to do what seemed impossible.” Words that fit perfectly with Patek Philippe’s executive and creative philosophy. Fun hides the driving force of passion, participation and, in this sense, the President of the Maison, Thierry Sternadds: «For over 185 years, Patek has taken risks, aware of the absolute top standards it has always set for itself. My goal and that of the company is to produce the most refined “artisanal” models in the world and I am willing to work and invest until the planned result is achieved.”
Pretty clear, it would seem. But for those who are not fully convinced, we suggest allocating a few hours to visiting the Patek Philippe traveling exhibition, «Watch Art – Grand Exhibition Milan 2026», underway in the Lombard capital from October 2nd and open until the 18th.
The «Watch Art – Grand Exhibition Milan 2026»
This is the seventh edition of an exhibition project open to the public and free of charge, which the Geneva Maison began in 2012 in Dubai (2013 in Munich, 2015 in London, 2017 in New York, 2019 in Singapore, 2023 in Tokyo), in order to convey and transmit the many aspects of Haute Horlogerie understood as a pure art: an emotional journey not limited to its own history and tradition, but extended to the path taken by the timepiece over the centuries.
Hosted by City Oval, a building historically known as the Palazzo delle Scintille, located in the western quadrant of Milan, characterized by its oval dome approximately 30 meters high, in the CityLife district (Piazza Sei February), it is to be considered, with its composite scenography distributed over 2,900 square metres, the largest exhibition ever organized by Patek Philippe.
An event of which Italy must be proud and proud, chosen by the President Thierry Sternbecause it has always been a central market for the Maison, ready to understand the tradition of innovation expressed by the House since its foundation, and because several watches, among the first produced by Patek, were purchased by Italian customers.
At the origin of Patek Philippe and luxury watches
In the aforementioned six previous events there were a total of 225,000 visitors, and expectations are very high on Milan’s ability to attract a very high number of enthusiasts in the environments illuminated by the captivating reproduction, in the Atrium, of the famous “Jet d’Eau”, symbol of the city since 1891, on Lake Geneva, 9 meters high and 4.5 meters wide, composed of 2,026 crystal drops, the center of an atmosphere that recalls unmistakably the air and the savoir-faire that can be breathed in the old and new “cabinets” of the city of Calvino.
The adventure, begun in 1839 by Antoine Norbert de Patek with Franciszek Czapekcontinued «in secret», after the conclusion of the contract with the latter, from 1 May 1845, with the French watchmaker Jean Adrien Philippefresh from his revolutionary invention of the charge sans clé – on 1 January 1851, the company name officially became «Patek, Philippe & Cie» -, and managed, starting from 1932, by the family Stern (Charles E Jean Stern were owners of the «Stern Frères» dial factory), since 2009, with Thierry, now in his fourth generation at the helm of the company, is told through 15 rooms and 500 timepieces on display, artisans at work on the techniques of inlay/guillochage/cloisonné enamel/miniature painting on enamel/setting, watchmakers available to analyze the mechanisms, rooms to listen to the acoustics of the chimes, posting of most of the over 200 patents obtained by the company, as well as the timely illustration of a historical journey built on masterpieces, intuitions, constant updating of manufacturing, the far-sighted work of the family Sternattention to the female universe (evidently there is no shortage of the first Swiss wristwatch, with key winding, made in 1868 for the countess Koscowitz of Hungary), sensitivity to cutting-edge technology with the Advanced Research division at the beginning of the 2000s.
The king of luxury watches
In short, as he stated Edward Denttechnical manager of Big Ben, during the Great Exhibition in London, in 1851, observing the Patek Philippe stand: «Patek, you are the king of watchmakers».
Or, again, in the universe of Haute Horlogerie, there are many extraordinary actors, then there is Patek Philippe. Therefore, among the aforementioned timepieces on display we find, coming from the Patek Philippe Museum, 35 pieces from the ancient collection (until 1548, including automatons, marine chronometers and enamel-painted pendants) and 49 models from the Patek collection (including multi-complicated pocket watches, such as the Duca Di Regla of 1909, the Packard of 1927, the Graves of 1933, the first 5-minute repeater ladies’ wristwatch from 1916, the Chronometro Gondolo on a tonneau case from 1920, the first Patek wrist chronographs – double and monopusher – from 1923 and 1924, the Caliber 89 with its 33 complications).
Here, then, is dad’s pocket Pius IX from 1866, Duke Ellington’s rattrapante chronograph, Queen Victoria’s lidless pendant, the 152 models of the current collection, the 3 supercomplicated ones (including the Star Caliber 2000), the 21 chime versions (including the Grandmaster Chime). The motor superlatives are inevitable: 53 movements displayed on rotating display cases and 64 mechanisms placed on interactive display cases.
The role of Patek Philippe in the Italian market
Finally, Patek Philippe has worked hard to honor the Italian market, with exclusive products, first of all with seven limited editions (an innovative chronograph with instant perpetual calendar, three Calatravas with dials that recall the Italian flag, between minute repeater and perpetual calendar, a sporty Aquanaut with red details and two World Time Minute Repeaters with dials interpreting the city center by day and night in cloisonné enamel) and 25 pieces of Alto Craftsmanship (pocket, wrist and clocks), depicting glimpses of Italy, from North to South, between Tuscany, Venice, the Amalfi Coast, Capri, Naples, Sicily and icons of our history such as the sixteenth century.
We conclude by underlining that, for the occasion, Patek Philippe wanted to launch the new women’s line Gondolo Ladies First, which returns, proposing the cushion case and dressing it with diamonds, on a shape concept proposed for the first time by the Maison at the beginning of 1900 with the Gondolo Chronometer.
