Who made the first wristwatch and for whom was it made for?

smnsdad

In 1832, Antoine de Pradwdzic, fleeing his country after an abortive revolt of the Polish army against Russian Czar Nicholas I, found himself in Geneva. He took Swiss nationality, changed his name to Patek, and in 1839 joined forces with another expatriate Pole named Czapek, who had some experience in the craft, to make watches. With the help of a small staff, they began producing highly decorative models in the contemporary Geneva fashion at the rate of about 200 per year. In 1844, when exhibiting at the Paris Exposition, Patek met a young French watchmaker named Adrien Philippe who subsequently joined the firm as technical director, ousting Czapek with whom Patek found himself increasingly at odds. The two young men--Patek was still only 33--produced a number of innovative models, including the first to have a 'free' mainspring and an independent seconds hand. Their aim, they said, was to produce the finest watches in the world. Their performance matched their ambition--over the next few years they won more than 500 international {awards;} they received an order from Queen Victoria and entrance to the courts of Europe followed: their clientele included 30 royal personages as well as three Popes. In 1851 they registered their company as Patek Philippe and Co. Among the exhibits at Paris had been a tiny watch with a diameter of only 8.46 mm, the smallest ever made at that time. In 1868 they modified the design to make a timepiece for Countess {Kocewicz;} it was the worlds first wristwatch, but it took another fifty years to produce a commercially viable version. http://www.carigem.org/patek_philippe.htm Jan 04 03, 4:49 AM

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