Sure we are going to be able to control AI when it gets more advanced when we can't even get this version to stop using em dashes

Video Credit: Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 5175 https://t.co/cgX0KTQ4jf The Poor Refugee Who Invented Patek Philippe https://t.co/IiFFT4Xjwk

Thanks for reading! After years of building secure, scalable tech for mid-market companies, I've learned that execution beats strategy every time and the best operators know this. Follow me @jsaunders_ for direct insights on scaling tech teams and infrastructure profitably.

That's execution at the highest level. Because the companies that win aren't chasing customers. They're building something worth inheriting. If you want to build systems that scale and last, let's talk. https://t.co/A6ocB3UkeT

Here's the lesson: Great businesses sell transformation through their work. They build systems that outlast the founder and scale beyond the present. Infrastructure designed to protect the company's future.

They turned a $50,000 watch into a generational asset by shifting the frame around ownership. Most brands sell attention. Patek Philippe sold meaning. That's what separates commodity products from things worth inheriting.

• Warren Buffett • Queen Elizabeth II • Brad Pitt • Jay-Z Still family-owned. Never sold to a conglomerate. The campaign is still running. Nearly 3 decades later.

Valued at over $10B. Under 70,000 watches made yearly. Their Grandmaster Chime sold for $31 million at auction in 2019. Resale value rivals blue-chip art. It's worn by royalty and business magnates worldwide:

Peter Lindbergh shot the Nautilus campaign with the watch now visible on the wrist. The photos changed. The words never did. Today, Patek Philippe is the gold standard of watchmaking:

Because once you sell luxury, you age with fashion. When you sell legacy, you age with meaning. That insight made Patek timeless. By 2006, the visuals evolved:

Ownership became stewardship. The product became a vessel of continuity. It sold legacy instead of status, and buyers felt it instantly. Tim Delaney, the man behind the campaign, once said they never used the word luxury.

Soft light. Real emotion. The watch appeared only as a small inset. Then in 1997, they added the line that changed everything: "You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation." That sentence reframed luxury completely...

Their first concept was simple: "Begin your own tradition." A year later, that seed evolved into the line that defined the brand. They launched ads with no watch visible, just quiet moments between parent and child.

When shown celebrity-driven ads, wealthy buyers asked: "What about me?" They didn't want to borrow someone else's status. They wanted their own values reflected. So Patek Philippe did something no luxury brand had done before.

In 1996, they hired London agency Leagas Delaney with a clear brief: No spectacle. No celebrities. Just meaning. The agency ran consumer research on high-net-worth buyers. What they found changed everything.

Patek Philippe charges $50,000 for a watch. Then immediately tells you: "You never actually own it." That insane tagline should have destroyed them. Instead, it’s been their most successful campaign for 28 years. Here's why:

Video Credit: How investors can think about the potential AI market bubble https://t.co/Z8pN873isr

Thanks for reading! After years of building secure, scalable tech for mid-market companies, I've learned that execution beats strategy every time and the best operators know this. Follow me @jsaunders_ for direct insights on scaling tech teams and infrastructure profitably.

This mindset shapes everything we do at https://t.co/A6ocB3UkeT: Helping teams turn ambition into durable systems. Because the future of AI won’t belong to those who predict it. It’ll belong to those who build it well.

That's why Bezos calls it a "good bubble." The correction will come, but the infrastructure will remain. Winners will be the companies executing with precision on use cases that actually deliver ROI.