Built for Generations

Patek Philippe’s Passion for Workmanship exhibition returned to the capital for the first time in more than a decade recently, with Partridge Jewellers hosting and an evening event at Public Trust Hall alongside a menu curated by Ahi.

This was not a random brand pop-up, too by the way. It is a relationship story, and it is mainly about generations. Partridge is a six-generation family business that dates to 1864, when James Partridge opened the first Partridge store in England. Less than a decade later he relocated his family and business to Timaru, built a reputation for workmanship, and later expanded into Christchurch before the brand’s long Wellington chapter. Partridge still frames its credibility around craft and long-term service, not novelty.

Patek Philippe has built an entire worldview around that same idea. Its long-running “Generations” campaign says the quiet part out loud: “You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation.”

So when Patek takes its show on the road, Partridge is the kind of partner that makes sense. The exhibition format is really true to its name. “Passion for Workmanship” gave guests in Wellington a close-up appreciation of all of those elements that go into a fine Patek Philippe timepiece: movement finishing, dial work, and the métiers d’art disciplines the brand groups under “Rare Handcrafts”, including techniques like enamelling, engraving, guilloché and marquetry. It was also a great way to get an overview of the legacy and evolution of some of the pillars of the catalogue, including the Nautilus, Aquanaut, Calatrava, plus the heavy-hitters under Grand Complications, because that is where Patek’s technical reputation is made.