Audemars Piguet vs. Patek Philippe

If you ask a watch enthusiast to quickly name a watch brand “better than Rolex,” the two answers you’re most likely to hear are Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet. Both of these legendary family-owned Swiss brands are considered part of the “Holy Trinity” of watchmaking (along with the less-hyped Vacheron Constantin) for good reason. The Audemars Piguet vs Patek Philippe debate is mostly a matter of taste, but in this article we’ll try to give you a concise breakdown of each brand’s relative strengths.

Audemars Piguet vs Patek Philippe Quick Guide

Category	Which Brand Wins	Note
Movement Finishing	Patek Philippe	This is a close one. I’ve talked to several collectors who slightly prefer the movement finishing of Patek over AP, but many feel they are comparable. They both do exquisite work, although personally I’d probably put A. Lange & Söhne at the very top of the movement finishing pyramid.
Service Wait Times	Audemars Piguet	Wait times for Patek Philippe service are getting to be notoriously long. Meanwhile, AP says that “a model of the AP core collection can be repaired in 5 weeks.” Although the 5-week goal often comes and goes, 6-month waits are rare for AP service…not so much for Patek.
Value Retention	Patek Philippe	Audemars Piguet watches hold their value quite well–at least Royal Oaks do– but Patek is exceptional in this regard.
Magnetic Resistance	Tie	While neither brand specifically states a figure for their watches’ magnetic resistance, they both use highly advanced hairsprings (silicon for Patek, and a proprietary material called Nivachron for AP) that provide ample anti-magnetic properties.
Bracelets/Straps	Tie	Patek Philippe quietly began introducing micro-adjust clasps to their watches in 2021, which Audemars Piguet has yet to do. Patek also created innovative quick-release springbars in 2006, but the current AP Royal Oak Offshore has a more modern quick-release system. Plus, AP’s Royal Oak bracelet is more iconic than any Patek bracelet.
Thinness	Tie	Making thin watches is an underappreciated strength of both brands. Most of their sports watches are under 10mm. AP makes a perpetual calendar that’s amazingly only 6.3mm thick, and Patek makes the thinnest watch in the world with a split-seconds chronograph function. So we’ll call it even.
Dress Watches	Patek Philippe	AP has struggled to find “hits” outside of its many Royal Oak variants, and its dress watches go largely overlooked. Meanwhile, Patek has an entire lineup of highly desirable dress watches like the Ellipse and Calatrava, as well as complicated classic models. This is one of the few easy choices in the Audemars Piguet vs. Patek Philippe discussion.
Ladies’ Watches	Audemars Piguet	I would’ve said the Patek vs. AP ladies’ lineups were a “tie” not long ago, but the Twenty-Four and Gondolo collections have grown stale while the new Mini Royal Oak looks great.
Modern Sports Watches	Audemars Piguet	The futuristic Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept credibly goes head-to-head with Richard Mille and other hyperwatch brands. Patek doesn’t really participate in this burgeoning space, which makes sense given their brand image, but we have to give AP credit here.
Highest Complications	Patek Philippe	Any highly complicated Patek watch will get plenty of love. Grand Complications are kind of Patek’s thing. But complicated non-Royal Oak AP’s don’t get much attention. Jules Audemars and Millenary models don’t really set the world on fire, even when they have insane complications.
Historical Contributions	Patek Philippe	Jean-Adrien Philippe invented the keyless winding and setting system, one of the most crucial components of modern watchmaking, in the 1840’s. Patek Philippe also made the world’s first perpetual calendar, worldtimer, and annual calendar wristwatches. AP did help make the first minute repeater wristwatch, and the first skeleton wristwatch. Plus the Royal Oak is credited as the “first steel luxury sports watch.”

Brand Heritage

Talking about the brand heritage of Audemars Piguet vs Patek Philippe is like a Lebron vs Jordan discussion. They are arguably the top two watch brands in the world when it comes to having a prestigious, legitimate, uninterrupted history of excellence. Both companies have been estimated to make about 50,000 watches per year (I’ve heard AP makes a bit less and Patek makes a bit more, but they don’t release official numbers) which is roughly the amount of watches that Rolex makes every two weeks.

Both companies are still family-owned. Patek Philippe, founded in 1839, has been owned by the Stern family since 1932. And Audemars Piguet has been under the control of the original founding families since they started in 1875! Here’s a quick breakdown of some notable achievements from both companies:

Audemars Piguet	Patek Philippe
First minute repeater wristwatch (1892, working with Louis Brandt)	First keyless winding mechanism (1845)
Possibly the first jumping hour wristwatch (1921, Rolex Marconi may have come first)	One of the first wristwatches (1868)
First skeletonized wristwatch (1934)	First perpetual calendar wristwatch (1925)
First luxury steel sports watch – Royal Oak (1972)	First world time wristwatch (1937)
First self-winding tourbillon wristwatch (1986)	First annual calendar wristwatch (1996)

We can talk about history and technical specifications all day long, but for a luxury watch buyer, the choice of Patek Philippe vs. Audemars Piguet is predominantly an emotional one. At the Luxury Bazaar office you’ll find watch lovers on both sides of the fence. Head buyer Adrian Taskin, for one, feels that no one does watches quite like Patek Philippe.

For me it’s a nostalgia thing. My father owned a Patek Philippe when I was a kid, and that sheer wrist presence and the way he used to say the name in his accent made it feel so special. There is no other brand–minus Journe, really–that I prefer their traditional complications over their hyped sports models. When they include tourbillons in their watches, they are so confident that they don’t have to show.

Adrian Taskin, Chief Procurement Officer at Luxury Bazaar

Indeed, it is hard to beat Patek Philippe when it comes to classic watchmaking prowess. But AP pushes the envelope a bit more, particularly with sports watches and advanced materials. And many collectors, simply, adore the Royal Oak.

AP has always held a special place in my heart. Gerald Genta revolutionized the industry with the Royal Oak, the world’s first sports luxury watch. I believe he created the greatest blank canvas for a sports watch, and set a precedent that will live on forever.

Roman Sharf, Luxury Bazaar CEO

Genta drew much of his later inspiration from his Audemars Piguet Royal Oak design, and the Nautilus was one of several integrated-bracelet sports watches he penned for other brands.

More on Audemars Piguet:
2024 Audemars Piguet Watch Releases
Hands-On: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore 37MM Review
All About the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver
How Much Does An Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Cost?
Guide to Audemars Piguet Nicknames

Audemars Piguet vs Patek Philippe Price

When it comes to Audemars Piguet vs Patek Philippe pricing, well, unquestionably they’re two of the most expensive watch brands in the world. Patek watches tend to have both a higher floor and ceiling, though. Some AP models are just as expensive as Patek equivalents, but that’s usually not the case. I greatly enjoy my Jules Audemars 25859BA chronograph, for instance, and you can snag one for just under $20,000. Meanwhile you’ll pay about 4x more for the aesthetically similar Patek 5070J.

You’re not getting a Patek for less than ten grand unless it’s vintage and tiny. But ten grand can easily get you a solid gold basic men’s Millenary or Jules Audemars model. And 20 grand can get you a legit badass modern AP men’s sports watch, including some of the less-hyped pre-owned Royal Oak Offshore variants. If you want a sports watch from Patek, well, you’d be lucky to find an old two-tone 33mm quartz Nautilus at that price.

At the high end, special pieces from both brands can easily reach seven figures. A one-of-one Royal Oak Concept Black Panther Edition sold for over $5 million! But any list of the most expensive watches ever sold will be absolutely peppered with Patek Philippe watches, including the #1 spot: a one-of-one Grandmaster Chime that went for over $30 million.

All in all, brand new Patek Philippe vs Audemars Piguet retail prices are comparable. Patek wins in the value retention department, but that also means AP tends to provide a better horological bang for your buck as a shopper on the secondhand market.

Ladies’ Watches

While Rolex caters fairly equally to both men and women, the same can’t quite be said for AP and PP. When it comes to the ladies’ watches offered by Audemars Piguet vs. Patek Philippe, the discussion usually centers around shrunken versions of the brands’ popular sports watches (Nautilus and Aquanaut for Patek, and Royal Oak for AP).

Our contributor Celine Simon chimed in with her thoughts on the AP vs. PP debate:

The Royal Oak looks great in any size — I especially love the Mini Oaks right now. Although I applaud Patek Philippe for offering a large assortment of complications for women, such as minute repeaters and annual calendars, I am not that impressed by the designs of its ladies’ watches; I find many of them to be quite classic and ultimately cheesy.

Celine Simon, luxury watch writer

Indeed, although the Twenty-Four was Patek’s best seller for years, it doesn’t seem to be capturing much enthusiast attention lately. Neither is the Gondolo lineup. “I do love the Lady Nautilus, though,” Celine added. “I think her proportions are perfect. Also, I’m not bothered about movement type that much. For me, the movement has to serve the design, so if it requires a quartz, then so be it.”

Although AP can be perceived as a bit of a “one-trick pony” with their endless Royal Oak variants, well, the Royal Oak is a pretty great foundation for a sports watch lineup nonetheless. And while the hype for both the Patek Philippe Nautilus and Aquanaut has settled down a bit since the 2022 peak, they are still both smoking hot watches that sell well above retail. Of course, there’s a lot more to these brands than just sports watches, and I expect a lot more horological innovations to come from both of them in the years to come. If you’re still not sure where you lean in the Audemars vs Patek debate, we’ll leave you with some pics to help you decide.

Gallery

More on Patek Philippe:
Patek Philippe 2024 Releases
On the Wrist Review: Patek Philippe Calatrava Ref. 3796J
Why is The Patek Philippe Nautilus So Expensive?
Patek Philippe Watches Prices: Historical and Current
Patek Philippe Aquanaut Price Guide