From Queen Victoria to Tsar Nicolás II

Inaugurated in November 2001, the Patek Philippe Museum, located at Rue des Vieux-Grenadiers 7 in Geneva, has received a warm welcome from local and international visitors since its opening day.

The museum houses many treasures. On the ground floor of the building there is an impressive antique watchmaker’s shop, including related crafts such as jewelry, engraving and enameling as well as more than 500 tools and machinery of the era. On this floor, the Patek Philippe collection illustrates the history of the technical and aesthetic innovations of its exceptional work.

 

 

The second floor houses a historic collection of the first three centuries in the art of making watches. The 1,000 pieces are regarded as some of Europe’s most important heritage. There are fantasy watches, like musical automata and other technical complications, in addition to a magnificent collection of miniature enamel portraits made by great masters of Geneva.

On the third floor, museum visitors will find a set of eight display cabinets containing some of the brand’s original files, as well as a complete watchmaking library with more than 8,000 volumes.

Montres Royales –1850 - 1910– par Patek Philippe One of the most recent exhibits, and the museum’s first thematic show, is dedicated to Patek Philippe timepieces with a royal background. Leaders of numerous countries, popes, monarchs and other chiefs of state acquired these exquisite pieces on their own or received them as gifts.

These historic watches are shown with adornments, such as shields of arms, initials, dedications, and are finely engraved, chiseled, enameled or mounted with jewels. The so called “presentation” watches, also of great beauty, were usually acquired by leaders to present to an important visitor or as a recognition for acts of bravery or loyalty of subjects or citizens.

 

 

Manufactured between 1850 and World War I, the pieces that participate in this thematic exhibit have a direct link to the crowned heads and royal families of old Europe and other far away countries. From Queen Victoria to Tsar Nicolas II, these regal timepieces are exceptional witnesses to the life of their former owners.

The collection is rounded off with pieces related to current popes and further enriched by watches lent by important collectors.

 

 

Text: Germán Nájera ± Photo: Patek Philippe