ABOUT TIME THE WATCH WITH
Look around a crowded room — in a casual or formal setting — and chances are you’ll see more luxury sport watches than dress watches. Where have all the dress watches gone? To think, they were once the dominant expression of the wristwatch for both daily and evening wear. Yes, they are currently overlooked, but I’m in the camp that believes a classic dress watch is a funda- mental piece for the modern gentleman — much the same way that a pair of black dress shoes, a bespoke suit and a linen hand- kerchief are. A dress watch can be an object that emotionally connects the wearer to a world of pure craftsmanship, quality and style. Patek Philippe has excelled in designing exceptional time-only watches with classic forms to meet those casual moments, and for those occasions requiring greater elegance. Let’s take a clos- er look and get reacquainted with what makes them classically extraordinary. When I joined Patek Philippe, they took me to school on the dress watch, and I learned how the prestigious dress watches re- main elegantly ageless. They taught me the principles that exist at their very core. I’ll share a handful of them: • When the numerals of a watch are the only decoration on its dial, imperfections have no place to hide. • Liberating the dial from clutter creates an area in which im - perfection finds no shelter. • Designing perfect proportions achieves visual balance. • The bezel and the finishing of the case become prominent at - tributes, with no other distractions stealing their spotlight. • Dimension is achieved by hand-applied hour markers, dial hands, even the framing of a date window. Patek Philippe’s Calatrava watch family is entirely built upon this ideology. The Stern family, owners of the company since 1932, have struck upon the perfect balance of aesthetics and beauty paired with function and utility. But where did this phi- losophy — which we now know to be timeless — first emerge? LESS & MORE How do Patek Philippe’s most prestigious dress watches remain remarkably ageless? By Michael A. Fratangelo
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator