In the first part of this interview, Thierry Stern, president of Patek Philippe talks about the impact of the brand's 175th anniversary celebrations and highlights from the 2016 collection.
Thierry Stern, president of Patek Philippe.
The celebrations for Patek Philippe’s 175th anniversary came to a close last year. How would you sum up this busy period for the brand?
We are very happy and I think we made a mark. People were reassured because they saw a company that is 175 years old but which is not dusty, which for me was very important. There are a few brands that are as old as us but not all of them are as proactive as us and I think that this is one of our strengths. Of course, we presented a number of new watches, including genuine limited editions, all of which have now been delivered over the past two years and I was delighted to see customers wearing these watches at Baselworld this year.
There were a lot of events but I think in the current economic climate this is no bad thing. Simply reducing costs and making cheaper steel watches will not get you through the crisis. That is impossible. At Patek Philippe we are doing exactly the opposite and we can see that it is working. We met our objectives at Baselworld because people are turning to sure values, but with a touch of innovation. It’s up to us to show that we are active.
After discovering the Grandmaster Chime during the 175th anniversary celebrations, we now find a similar model discreetly introduced in the collection. Was this planned all along?
Yes. When you develop a movement like this, which took nine years in total (we said in our communication that it took seven years but the real figure is nine), you cannot just make seven of them — it simply isn’t profitable. So we informed our customers in advance that there would be the anniversary model and that this would be followed by a model in the standard collection.
The anniversary piece had a special engraved case and box, which made the difference. These kinds of projects are prepared years in advance. For me, the 2017 collection is already finalised and I am working on 2018.
Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime. Photo: Patek Philippe.
But presumably you are limited in terms of how many Grandmaster Chime models you can produce?
Yes, of course. We don’t reveal our production capacity but these are highly complex pieces and, even if I had the capacity to make a lot of them, I wouldn’t.
You have two more anniversaries this year: 40 years of the Nautilus and 20 years of the annual calendar. How do you plan to celebrate them?
We didn’t celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Nautilus in Basel. For Patek Philippe, these are not major anniversaries, because 40 years is not that old in our eyes. What I love about the annual calendars, however, is that you don’t see that many of them. The idea behind a grande sonnerie watch is relatively simple, it’s producing them and making them work that is the challenge. But the useful complications are much harder to find and produce, and I think that is what is worth celebrating — the fact that Patek Philippe can produce ultra-complicated watches on the one hand but also, to find ways of simplifying complications and make them more accessible and more useful.
A young customer may not be able to invest in a perpetual calendar, so the annual calendar is the perfect answer. It’s also one of the few models that appeals in equal measure to gentlemen and ladies.
Patek Philippe Annual Calendar in rose gold. Photo: Patek Philippe.
Does this mean you are trying to target younger customers in general?
No, I am not trying to do it. I actually am doing it and have been for a few years. We have seen that the average age of our customer is decreasing. When I started out it was over 50 or even over 60 but now it starts from 25.
Do these different age groups prefer different models?
It’s quite mixed, because we have fans who don’t necessarily have the means, so they will start with an Aquanaut or a nice Calatrava up to the annual calendar. But we are increasingly seeing younger customers who have enjoyed early success in their career and can quite easily purchase a minute repeater. I like to make sure, however, that they understand what they are buying. It’s like allowing your child to buy a Ferrari at 18 – they need to know what they are doing.
This article was written by Paul O'Neil and first published on WorldTempus.