Time Is On My Side (And It's Expensive), Yes It Is!
by Carina Zaragoza
In this day in age, the world revolves around time. There's no getting around it. You have to be at work on time. Your lunch break can only last so long. Your favorite show airs at a certain time. Even your phone conversations have to be timed thanks to peak-hour minute limits. Since everything you do revolves around the clock (no pun intended, or was it?), you might as well have the most valuable watch keeping time for you. Wow the next person who asks you for the time by referring to your Patek Phillipe. And if you strive to own only one-of-a-kind pieces, as all LawCrossing members should, then buy the most famous Patek Phillipe. Handmade by the world's finest watchmakers, this time piece is one for the ages.
It all started in the 1920's. During the Gilded Age, everything was about flash and pizzazz. The more objects one owned, the higher up in society he or she (mostly he) was. Hmm, why does that sound so familiar? Oh yeah, that's how society works now too. And that's why you've got to run out and buy the world's most expensive watch. More on this unique piece later. For now, back to the origins of the watch.
Two rich entrepreneurs battled one another and raced to own a watch with the greatest number of complications. Complications simply refer to features on a watch other than time. For instance, a mechanical function that indicates the sunrise and sunset is a complication. Henry Graves, Jr., a New York financer, and James Ward Packard, an engineer, both commissioned Patek Philippe to make them exclusive complicated watches.
Patek Phillipe was first founded in Geneva in 1839. The company employs craftsmen who are master watchmakers, capable of designing and finishing the most complicated watch movements. Other specialists such as goldsmiths, chainsmiths, enamellers, jewelers, and engravers are also part of this exceptional watch-making firm.
Getting back to the amazing race, several watches were made as a result of the commission. But it was Henry Graves, Jr. who won. It took three years to design and five years to produce his trophy prize, an incredibly beautiful and complicated watch. It has twenty-four complications displaying twenty-four different types of information - two faces, nine dials, and eighteen pointers. Some of the mechanical functions unique to this watch are perpetual calendar phases of the moon, equation of time, a star chart for the New York sky, a minute repeater, and an alarm. Pretty fancy for a watch made in 1933. The watch is gold and has 70 jewels. No wonder, then, that it is worth $11 million dollars.
But what's $11 million to a LawCrossing member? Pocket change. And with that out of the way, you'll have room for your new Patek Phillipe pocket watch.
A well informed site, LawCrossing seems flawless, as I can't think of suggestions for it's improvement when asked for! Linda
Facts
LawCrossing Fact #143: “Advanced Search” allows you to narrow down your job searches efficiently!
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