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The term “Holy Trinity” has been around since at least the 1970s, according to Bob’s Watches. It’s a term used to describe the “Big Three” coming out of Switzerland: Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, and Vacheron Constantin. In this post, it’s only fitting that I include three vintage watch ads to keep up with the whole Trinity theme, therefore.
While there’s definitely other brands (that aren’t Swiss) that you could argue are right up there with the Holy Trinity – such as A. Lange & Söhne, F.P. Journe, Breguet, etc – for the purpose of this post, we’ll be focusing on the classics.
The classic big three have many things in common, including but not limited to: high-complications, iconic Gerald Genta designed sports models (at least for Patek and AP), and an extremely long, uninterrupted history of producing watches.
The historical track record is one of the main arguments backing up the current composition of the trinity members (versus a brand like A. Lange & Söhne that wasn’t reestablished until the 1990s when Germany was reunified). Other high-end brands like Blancpain were out of business for a time, so they can’t claim the same continuous record of the Trinity watchmakers.
Audemars Piguet Ad From 1959
Starting in alphabetical order, we have this really cool ad from AP. I love the emphasis the ad places on the watch’s movement. It’s a finely crafted, small batch watch for the “true connoisseur of fine watches”.
It’s hard for me to imagine AP without the Royal Oak, but this ad was released over a decade before that iconic watch even existed. The Royal Oak remains the best selling watch in Audemars Piguet’s stable today. It was designed in 1970 by Gerald Genta, but wasn’t actually industrially produced until 1972.
Of course another member of the Holy Trinity, Patek Philippe, would also work with Gerald Genta. The rest is history, as they say. The iconic Nautilus was debuted a few years later, in 1976. The Nautilus is still a very popular model today, especially if the dial is Tiffany Blue.
Patek Philippe Ad From 1956
This Patek Phillipe ad is more artistic than the one from AP. It looks more like a painting. One of the “World’s Foremost” watches is shown in a style that could have easily been released in the 1940s with its Tank-style case.
During the war, Patek Phillipe actually sent a stainless steel reference 1461 to Charles Woehrle. Mr. Woehrle was a prisoner of war at the time in a German POW camp. He’d filled out a mail-in coupon from a Patek Philippe promotional pamphlet, with a note saying that he’d pay for the watch when he got home after the end of WW2.
Woehrle wore the watch for over thirty years before it was stolen as a result of a home burglary. There is a happy ending to the story, however, involving a golden replacement from Patek Philippe themselves. Check out the full story and an interview with Charles Woehrle himself, over at Hodinkee. It’s a great read and a really fascinating story. It also makes me a big fan of Patek Phillipe as a company.
I know the title says that there will be three ads from the 1950s in this post, but since we’re on the subject of WW2 – here’s a bonus one from the early 1940s. This ad was pulled directly from an Esquire magazine found by a friend at a thrift store, which is dated December 1942 (right as the US entered WW2) .
Vacheron Constantin Ad From 1958
The final ad in this post comes from Vacheron Constantin. Like the ad from AP, it’s advertising to the “connoisseur”. You’ll see “IN GENEVA SINCE 1775” at the bottom, which makes it older than the United States.
Vacheron Constantin was founded in 1755, or two decades after Blancpain. Unlike Blancpain, however, Vacheron Constantin never shut its doors. That means it can rightfully claim to be the oldest watch manufacturer.
Conclusion
The 1950s were the decade when the world, and the watchmaking industry as a whole, were changing dramatically. It had been over a decade since the end of World War 2 when these ads were released.
Companies like Rolex and Blancpain were introducing the first purpose-built dive watches with rotating bezels. Omega would introduce the world to its Professional line of watches in 1957, which included the Seamaster 300 and Speedmaster. In other words, the foundation for the steel “sports watch” was already established by the time the 1960s started to roll around.
Iconic sports watches like the Royal Oak and Nautilus wouldn’t be introduced until the 1970s. This marked a change in the way even the Trinity did things, since these now-iconic sports models were introduced in steel.
That was a big thing at the time, since most of the finely-finished watches being manufactured by Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, and Vacheron Constantin were previously crafted from precious metals. By this time, steel sports watches, especially dive watches and chronographs, had hit their stride – but the industry as a whole was striding right into one big Quartz Crisis.
The Holy Trinity survived the Quartz Crisis, and continue to thrive today. Back in the 1950s, they were marketed as the finest watches in the world, so you could argue that not much has changed when looking at their positioning in the watch hierarchy today.
Know more about the “Holy Trinity” and want to add to the discussion? Please post a comment below!