REINVENTING PATEK PHILIPPE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION
We frequently think of history as events in the past, but in fact history is being made, every hour and every minute. The leaders of history, through their daily decisions, both big and small, have made a conscious effort to shape the world around them, not waiting around to wonder how they would be judged in tomorrow’s textbooks.
In the field of high watchmaking, there are a handful of leaders who have transformed the industry. And one notable family has shaped how we understand and appreciate modern high watchmaking today more than any other. We’re referring, naturally, to the Sterns, the custodians of the paragon of the watch world: Patek Philippe.
The family acquired the company during the Great Depression, when the Swiss watch industry itself was undergoing a massive consolidation and transformation from a cottage industry to a corporate one. This change was made more complex, taking place during one of the most difficult financial downturns of modern history that not only impacted consumer confidence, but also affected corporate financing in dramatic ways. Despite that, brothers Charles and Jean Stern, who re-established the manufacture post-bankruptcy, managed to maintain the brand’s impeccable reputation for haute horlogerie, delivering the most renowned timepiece in watchmaking history within a year — the Henry Graves Supercomplication, a project that took eight years of dedication, and might have taken more if not for the Sterns’ intervention in Patek Philippe’s business.
Charles Stern guided the company through the Great Depression and recovery of the global financial system, building on its strengths to maintain Patek Philippe’s prominence in the industry. His son and grandson, Henri and Philippe Stern respectively, would go on to lead the brand through the invention of the digital timekeeper and the subsequent Quartz Crisis, during which the Swiss watch industry lost two-thirds of its workforce, and businesses were decimated as the mechanical watchmaking sector shrunk. In spite of the challenges, the Sterns maintained the prestige of the brand and focused on the creation of high watchmaking, recognising its inherent value as a luxury product rather than a soulless utility object. And as the industry recovered and began to reach out to new markets and interest groups, Philippe Stern would eventually introduce a quartz-powered watch in 1999, the Twenty~4, the brand’s best-selling ladies’ timepiece, worn by women across the world as a symbol of elegance and success.
In 2009, Philippe Stern handed the reins of the company over to his son, Thierry Stern, at a time when the global financial system was once again reeling from the effects of a recession, and a burgeoning digital retail transformation was picking up steam, reshaping consumption behaviour into what it is today. In the 10 years since Thierry has directed the company, it’s made a powerful leap with its products, marketing and technical innovation. Expanding on Patek Philippe’s sports elegant watches has
