Audemars Piguet
It was an exemplary instance of having an excess of work and insufficient time to do it that prompted Jules-Louis Audemars to collaborate with Edward Piguet. Audemars contracted Piguet to adapt to expanded interest for his profoundly convoluted watches, an enthusiasm Piguet shared.
The two became companions and, in 1875, built up their own image in Le Brasses, where Audemars Piguet remains today creating around 40,000 watches per year. Confounded watches are still a claim to fame, thanks to some degree to having famous development creators Reynaud et Papi as an AP auxiliary, however the brand is best known for kick starting the extravagance steel watch pattern with the dispatch, in 1972, of the Gerald Gretna-structured Royal Oak.
There have been different cycles, the Royal Oak Offshore, and models highlighting ceaseless schedules and chronograph works yet the straight-up two-hand Royal Oak remains Audemars Piguet's notorious distinguishing. More details on thewatchcompany.com.
Rolex
The best-known luxury watch brand in the world was started in 1905 by Hans Wilder while he was residing in London. Apparently, the name comes from a suggestion from a Hispanic employee that they call the new brand Rolex which was an abbreviation of "relies an excellence". Rolex didn't cut it so Wilder changed the "e" to an "o" and history was made.
As well as producing around 2,000 watches a day, Rolex is a brand of firsts. The 1926 Oyster was the first waterproof wristwatch, the 1945 Date Just ref.4467 had the first automatically changing date and its GMT Master from 1954 was the first dual time-zone watch.
It has earned a reputation for making highly desirable, exceptionally well-made watches. No wonder a gold Rolex can allegedly be used as currency anywhere in the world.
Vacheron Constantin
Nothing - not the French unrest, not the Napoleonic Wars or two universal wars - has halted Vacheron Constantin from delivering observes each year since 1755. In spite of the fact that it makes great dress styles, gems pieces and increasingly lively structures, Vacheron's notoriety is based on a past filled with particularly confused watches.
It right now holds the record for most muddled watch at any point made - the Ref. 57260 - which houses 57 complexities. Obviously, it's 98mm wide and not made for your wrist.
Its image, the Maltese cross, which was initially made by the Maltese knights during the First Crusade, was picked in light of the fact that its shape is equivalent to the part fixed to the barrel of its development, which decreases the quantity of wheels fundamental for winding and has been on the dial since 1877.
Patek Philippe
If Rolex is the brand everyone wants, Patek is the brand they aspire to. In 175 years, it has weathered world wars, recessions and near collapse (which was how the current owners, the Sterns came to buy the business) to become leader in the luxury watch world.
Set up by Antoni Patek and Jean Adrian Philippe in 1851, it has made watches for royalty, mastered all the extreme complications matchmaking has to offer and recently become one of the leading brands in terms of silicon technology. It even dabbled with compliant mechanisms with the launch of 2017's Aquanaut Ref 5650 proving that Patek Philippe is still an innovator not a follower.
