Jeremy Pragnell was only 20 years old when he purchased his first Patek Philippe watch in 1969. The British son of a jeweller had discovered the brand while working at watch retailer Meister in Zurich — and he fell hard.

A lack of proficiency in Swiss-German meant Jeremy Pragnell’s social life in Switzerland was limited, but this allowed him to save much of his wages. Combining the cash with a 1ct diamond an apprenticeship in London’s Hatton Garden had allowed him to purchase, he sought his employer’s help to buy one of the coveted watches. “The owner of the business was quite taken aback,” says Charlie Pragnell, Jeremy’s son and current managing director of British watch and jewellery retailer Pragnell, as Patek Philippe watches were “extraordinarily expensive” even back then.

Meister did not carry the model Jeremy desired, so the owner contacted the brand’s owner Henri Stern to request it, mentioning that the intended customer was one of his young apprentices. Impressed by this, Henri Stern charged his son, Philippe Stern — today Patek Philippe’s honorary president — to hand deliver it. “And that’s how the relationship began,” says Charlie.