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alphadweller · 15 July 2023, 07:54 PM

With Patek, you get a product for which the amount of human involvement during the production process is higher.

For example, with Rolex, all the finishing is machine made, only the final assembly is manual. In the case of Patek, most of the finishing is also automated but on top of the manual final assembly, we have hand finishing embellishment in key areas that are likely to have the greatest visual impact. So essentially more hours are spent on the manual finishing of a Patek movement.

With regards to the quality of the movement, Rolex have state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities allowing a high level of automation, but this doesn't make the quality of their movements inferior. They go through high internal requirements for precision.

Here's an excellent article from SJX comparing the amount of watchmaker hours between brands, with Patek sitting between 30 and 99 maximum watchmaker-hours per watch, and Rolex standing at a much lower 1 to 9 watchmaker-hours.

15 July 2023, 07:54 PM	#10
alphadweller "TRF" Member Join Date: Nov 2019 Real Name: Vic Location: Spain Watch: SD43 Posts: 5,973	With Patek, you get a product for which the amount of human involvement during the production process is higher. For example, with Rolex, all the finishing is machine made, only the final assembly is manual. In the case of Patek, most of the finishing is also automated but on top of the manual final assembly, we have hand finishing embellishment in key areas that are likely to have the greatest visual impact. So essentially more hours are spent on the manual finishing of a Patek movement. With regards to the quality of the movement, Rolex have state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities allowing a high level of automation, but this doesn't make the quality of their movements inferior. They go through high internal requirements for precision. Here's an excellent article from SJX comparing the amount of watchmaker hours between brands, with Patek sitting between 30 and 99 maximum watchmaker-hours per watch, and Rolex standing at a much lower 1 to 9 watchmaker-hours.