Antoni Patek — Od Virtuti Militari do zegarków za 31 milionów

Antoni Patek—the Polish insurgent who created the world's most expensive watches. A complete documentary biography. Thirty-one million francs—that's how much was paid in 2019 for the most expensive watch in human history. Its dial bears a Polish surname. Few, however, know that it was worn by a soldier of the November Uprising, a Knight of the Golden Cross of the Virtuti Militari, an exile whose path home was forever barred by Tsarist repression. In this feature-length documentary, we present the complete biography of Antoni Norbert Patek—from his birth in the noble manor house in Piaski Szlacheckie in the Lublin region in 1812, ten days before Napoleon crossed the Neman River, to the contemporary auction records for the Patek Philippe brand. In the film, you will learn, among other things: — how a sixteen-year-old orphan joined the First Mounted Rifle Regiment of the Kingdom of Poland; — how an eighteen-year-old cavalryman survived the November Uprising, sustained two wounds, and received the Gold Cross of the Virtuti Militari; — how, on the orders of General Józef Bem, he ran a staging post for insurgents in Bamberg; — how he worked as a typesetter in Amiens and studied painting with Alexandre Calame in Geneva; — how, together with Franciszek Czapek, a veteran of the uprising, he founded a company creating watches with images of Our Lady of Częstochowa and national heroes — Poland enclosed in a pocket watch; — how a meeting with the French inventor Adrien Philippe and a keyless winding mechanism changed the fate of the company; — how Queen Victoria bought his watch at the first world exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London; — how a journey across the Atlantic and a handshake with Charles Lewis Tiffany initiated the oldest partnership in the world of luxury goods; — how the first wristwatch from Swiss watchmaking was created; — why Pope Pius IX granted the Polish watchmaker the title of count; — how he supported Polish emigration, refugees from the January Uprising, and the cause of independence throughout his life; — what happened to the company after the founder's death in 1877—from the Stern family, to the Graves supercomplication sold for twenty-four million dollars, to the record-breaking Grandmaster Chime. The film is based on documented historical facts. Controversies and discrepancies in sources are honestly noted in the narrative. This is the story of a man who lost his homeland but made the Polish name synonymous with the highest excellence worldwide—and who proved that a name cannot be erased from the map if it is made more enduring than a single life. Channel author: Stanisław Wiśniewiecki All rights reserved. Copyrighted material. Copying, distribution, or use of all or part of this film without the written permission of the author is prohibited. #AntoniPatek #PatekPhilippe #PolishHistory #NovemberUprising #Biography