he meteoric and continuing rise of the sports watch has spurred unabashedly elitist brands such as A. Lange & Söhne and Vacheron Constantin to produce more casual timepieces, aimed at clients who want watches they can (hypothetically) knock around without remorse despite five- or six-figure price tags. Even Patek took it up another notch: In April, it launched a monopusher chronograph that measures down to tenths of a second and features seven exclusive patents. The ultra-technical, platinum-cased creation drove home the message that the brand
