by Stacy Perman
First published 2013
In the early 1900s, two wealthy Americans entered a decades-long competition to possess the most complicated timepiece ever made. James Ward Packard, the Ohio entrepreneur who built America's first luxury automobile, faced off against Henry Graves Jr., a Wall Street heir and New York society figure. Both men shared an obsession with fine watches, the ultimate status symbol of their era. Their rivalry pushed Swiss watchmaker Patek Philippe to unprecedented heights of craftsmanship and innovation. The contest culminated in a legendary timepiece featuring twenty-four complications that required nearly eight years to complete. Stacy Perman traces this extraordinary duel from the exclusive clubs of Manhattan to the workshops of Switzerland's master craftsmen. She reveals how limitless wealth and ambition drove advances in mathematics, astronomy, and physics. The story continues into modern times when the famous watch disappeared for decades before surfacing at a 1999 Sotheby's auction, where it shattered records by selling for eleven million dollars. Perman captures the passion that drives collectors to extreme lengths and explores what happens when the desire for beauty becomes an all-consuming obsession.
Genres: history, science, 20th-century, business, non-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: rivals-to-lovers
Setting: Manhattan, New York, Ohio, Switzerland
Period: Early 1900s
352 pages · Hardcover · Atria Books