48 | Brands
Family
Values
Over the last half-century Patek Philippe has risen to eminence
above their former peers. The ascent has been astonishing, all the
more so, given that it would be hard to find anyone to disagree
with the proposition that in the hierarchy of watchmaking houses,
Patek Philippe inhabit a league of their own.
Maria Doulton
Brands | 49
Record auction prices confirm its enduring appeal
amongst the watch cognoscenti, while fresh
waves of followers dutifully add their names to
waiting lists for the next complication, and in
the meantime the list of Patek Philippe patents
continues to grow.
Patek Philippe consistently produce attractive and
sophisticated watches to the highest standards,
but the success and value of the brand goes far
beyond what the product could realistically justify.
In part this is simply the result of success breeding
success, but how Patek create such a virtuous
circle begs a question.
A precise lineage
Most of the answer is sitting on a sofa in front
of me. The father and son team of Philippe and
Thierry Stern Philippe having followed on from
his father, Henry are at Browns Hotel in London
and, apart from talking to QP, are here to oversee
the opening of the new Patek Philippe salon on
Bond Street.
Ref 5124J in yellow gold is
part of the Gondolo collection
and features an Art Deco style
tonneau case, housing the new
rectangular Calibre 25-21 PS.
Both are wearing corporate Maltese Cross lapel pins,
silk ties decorated with tasteful pattern variations
on the house symbol and uniformly sober suits.
Dispensing with initial small talk, Philippe Stern
remarks of the new London boutique: I am very
happy with the quality of the finishes and very
glad that after twenty years we have finally been
able to buy the property. The only problem with
our new boutique in London is that it is too small.
A passing remark perhaps, but revealing.
Firstly, yes, the Sterns have actually come to
London from Geneva for a bit of snagging: to
check for themselves on the finishes of the wall
coverings, flooring and furniture. Clearly these
are men for whom no detail is too small. An
obsession with detail is, of course, a vital element
in their reputation. Next clue: Philippe is persistent
and has waited two decades to get what he
wants, which is full command of this retail space
that was previously jointly operated with Watches
of Switzerland.
But this is still not enough; they are looking to the
future and want even more space. Much like the
growth of the company itself their manufacturing
facility at Plan-les-Ouates, completed a decade
ago and, originally intended to meet their needs
for a quarter of a century, is already in need
of expansion.
Philippe Stern and Thierry Stern.
50 | Brands
Salon Patek Philippe opened earlier this year on New Bond Street.
As for the corporate process, things are very
simple. We decide everything, says Philippe Stern
gently irritated at the question, as though it were a
matter of fact that all companies work in this way.
Before it was just me, now it is the two of us, he
says glancing his son Thierry, who is frowning into
his iPhone.
New tradition
So what criteria do the duo follow when coming to
design a new watch? It is a fine line that we walk,
steps in Thierry Stern. It is about experience, this
is not something you could learn from a book or
be taught at a school. The Patek Philippe museum
teaches us and we follow the criteria that anything
we design has to be something you could wear for
at least the next ten years.
Even the wives help out and Mrs. Sandrine Stern
collaborated with the hugely successful Twenty-4.
Occasionally outside-designers are allowed in. We
dont mind them, is Philippe Sterns comment, but
The ladies watch Twenty-4
was launched in 1999 as
a modern interpretation
of the Patek Gondolo. The
quartz powered Calibre E
15 usually comes housed
in a diamond-studded case.
it has to be someone that we know and always the
same person.
Innovation is also approached in a very personal
way. We are not willing to use new materials such
Brands | 51
We have never been
afraid to invest in
new technology
as Kevlar or titanium, says Philippe Stern, we are
more interested in the movements of the watch, as
there is no point in trying to follow trends. We are
not in the fashion business and our clients would
hate to see us make a Panerai-style watch. We stick
to small evolutions because all our watches always
have to be a Patek Philippe and we aim to solve the
dilemma of being both classical and new.
Where we do innovate is in the details. Where
others stop we start, adds Philippe Stern and goes
on to explain their remarkable modus operandi.
We dont work to marketing briefs and dont set a
price as a criteria for a new model. This means that
we can keep refining details where others would
have to stop because they have a price to respect.
This helps to explain the almost insane devotion
to details that mark these watches.
Pateks
manufacturing
facility
in
Geneva
is
testament to one familys determination and
independence. We built our manufacturing facility
step by step and we never took money from
the bank, states Philippe Stern of the amazing
production complex where multi-axis CNC machines
produce ever smaller and more complex components
and whirr robotically away alongside a lovely
wooden engine-turning machine, lustrous with the
patina of decades of use it dates from 1913 and
is operated by winding a handle, somewhat similar
to an old-fashioned sewing machine.
The silicon based material Silinvar used in the
new Patek Philippe escapement presented at
Baselworld this year, lives alongside the centuries
old craft of decoration. The Geneva Stripes
that can be glimpsed on a Patek movement are
created with a very low-tech box wood tool
and a homemade mixture containing lavender
essence. It is this marriage of the old and new that
makes Patek so fascinating. And Philippe Stern is
adamant that upping production quantities is not
their goal. While new machinery may improve and
even speed up the production of components, the
box wood decorating and machine turning respect
a much more ancient pace of work. We have never
Ref 5180/1G in white
gold with the thin
skeletonised calibre
240 SQU.
52 | Brands
Ref 5396G in white gold uses the mechanical
self-winding calibre Caliber 324 S QA LU 24 H,
featuring an annual calendar, day/date/month
indicators, moon phase and AM/PM indicator.
Showing the extent of his fanatical devotion,
Philippe Stern is wearing a Calatrava with one of
the new silicon-based escapements. He has been
wearing it for the last year to test its precision and
performance. We wont launch a watch until we
have produced somewhere between 100 to 300
pieces and can really be sure it can be produced
and well tested. A claim not all Swiss watch
houses can make.
Next generation
Creating watches in such a privileged environment
been afraid to invest in new technology, only if
is one thing, making a brand is another and here
it is better than doing the same process by hand.
is where Patek have been particularly enlightened.
The reason for our machinery is to improve the
Philippe Stern chose an English ad. agency,
quality of our components, not the quantity, says
Legas Delaney, to create their now ten year old
Philippe Stern.
advertising campaign that has brought the house
recognition as a luxury, as well as a watch brand.
To emphasise the point, Thierry Stern points
out: Today we are ten times more precise than
In the first advertisement in 1996, alongside the
we were, say, twenty years ago. Today we have
create you own tradition was a black and white
better finishing and improved precision. So much
Peggy Sirota image of a grandfather sitting at the
so that any of our normal models could compete
piano with his grandson. The famous words: You
in an Observatory precision competition, whereas
never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely
previously only special one-off models created for
look after it for the next generation appeared
this purpose would stand a chance.
below this touching scene.
Brands | 53
Below image and previous pages: The Generations
advertising campaign has been running for 10 years
and has involved world renowned photographers such
as Ellen Von Unwern, Peter Lindberg and Jeanloup Sieff.
The arrival of quartz was a key moment that set
Patek on the path to the highest horological ground
Though hardly a shocking approach, it was a
that if one company were to remain making
surprise for the very conservative watch industry
mechanical watches, it would be us. In the 1970s
that, according to Tim Delaney who worked on
I did a lot of thinking and I decided to continue
the project, rarely veered from the well-tested
investing in mechanical watches, because I was
formula of using a standard issue large picture
a collector myself and I liked them. While tools
of a watch or a celebrity, accompanied by words
to make mechanical watches were being thrown
saying how wonderful the product is. The Patek
away, smart people started to collect them.
campaign changed this and has used big name
Eventually when demand came back in 1982, we
photographers along the way, including Herb
were ready with a good movement.
Ritts, Mary Ellen Mark, Ellen von Unwerth and
Peter Lindbergh.
Thierry glances at his iPhone and then at his
steel Aquanaut with a black dial, it is time to go
The result over the last ten years, remarks
and so the duo behind the brand disappears
Delaney is that Patek Philippe has evolved from a
down Albemarle Street to the next appointment,
quiet, discreet house known to a few connoisseurs
having said little and revealed less. And, clever
to a globally respected luxury brand.
relationships with the likes of Antiquorum aside,
that is the secret of Pateks success a judicious
There is one more question I have been longing
mix of conservative production (no need to
to ask. How did Philippe Stern react to the quartz
take risks if youre already number one), long
revolution, a time when many great watch houses
horizons and a cultivated and slightly Calvinist
lost their way? For Philippe Stern the arrival of
reticence about corporate methods, all spiced up
quartz was a key moment that set Patek on the
with the occasional act of radicalism such as the
Generations campaign. 8
path to the highest horological ground. I thought
Further information: www.patek.com, Salons Patek Philippe, 15 New Bond Street, London W1S 3ST
