Patek owners - Experience with independent brands e.g. Greubel

[ars1g09]

Hi all - recently paid a visit to Greubel Forsey's first ever boutique that just opened in Tokyo. I have always been interested in their GMT line, so they offered me the next one to come in for their new GMT model releasing this year - pic attached below.

My current collection consists of mostly Patek, a mix of Nautliuses, Aquanauts & Annual/Perpetual calendars (with a couple of Rolexes and APs)

With that in mind, wondering if someone has been through a similar journey as me and progressed eventually to independent brands such as Greubel or others - what was your experience? Did you find it to be too 'novel'? Did you end up loving the independents as much? Or even more? Was the half a million dollar price tag worth it?

Any thoughts/stories/experiences are much appreciated.