SOUNDS LIKE FAMILY

“It is a nice gift. An expensive one!” says Patek Philippe’s president Thierry Stern, his face beaming via webcast on the computer screen as he fields questions about his brand’s latest technical opus, the Ref. 6301P Grande Sonnerie. A journalist had asked about launching such a complex and expensive timepiece in a year as challenging as this. Stern reasons that since the product was ready, he didn’t think they should wait. And oh, he says, almost as a sidenote: he really wanted to time the debut of the watch for his father’s birthday.

Since he started working for Patek Philippe, Stern had been earmarked to take over the family business. Among his biggest responsibilities – one that has been