Philippe Stern, president of Patek Philippe from 1993 to 2009, has sadly recently passed away at the age of 88.
Tributes have poured in across the watch industry. Stern leaves a rich legacy brimming with reminders that following your intuition is often better than following the crowd.
His true legacy lies in bold decisions that ignored short-term trends in favour of long-term craftsmanship.
Doubling down on mechanical watchmaking during the quartz crisis
When Philippe Stern became president, the industry was still dealing with the quartz crisis. Japanese brands such as Seiko were seeping into the market, bringing inexpensive but highly accurate quartz watches that challenged the traditional mechanical timepieces being produced by Swiss brands.
According to Breitling, almost two-thirds of the industry disappeared between 1970 and the mid-1980s.
However, Stern remained committed to traditional mechanical movements, as though he knew craftsmanship and heritage would outlast technological trends.
Although Patek did produce quartz watches, the brand continued to invest in traditional watches and in the tools and technology needed to produce them, giving it the means to push the technical boundaries of mechanical watchmaking.
The brands that stayed true to their roots grew into a new phase of luxury, and The New York Times hails Philippe Stern as a principal architect of this reinvention. Today’s demand for luxury mechanical watches owes a lot to brands like Patek Philippe that refused to compromise, despite the threats.
Backing the Nautilus when luxury steel watches were a gamble
Philippe Stern oversaw the creation of the Nautilus, which launched in 1976 and is still the most famous model in the Patek lineup.
A steel sports watch that cost as much as a gold watch was controversial, but Stern saw something others didn’t. And his belief in steel, combined with a vision that mechanical watches would make a comeback, paid off for Patek.
Stern displayed the confidence to ignore trends. Chunky in its design, the Nautilus challenged an industry that was playing it safe by feeding ultra-thin gold timepieces to consumers. The Nautilus was provocative in its design, production, and pricing.
At the time, the response of retailers, consumers, and the press was less than lukewarm, but the Nautilus developed into icon status — and Patek Philippe wouldn’t be who it is without it. It’s now one of the world’s most desirable luxury watches, proving that some of the best ideas simply need time.
Creating the Calibre 89 when nobody needed it
Released in 1989 to celebrate Patek Philippe’s 150th anniversary, the Calibre 89 was the most complicated mechanical watch created to date. It had spent 9 years in R&D and boasted 33 complications.
Commercially, it made little sense. Very few collectors could afford it, and the general consensus was that the watch was too complicated.
But the Calibre 89 became a statement about what was possible when boundaries were thoroughly questioned. This was necessary at a time when many considered traditional horology to be outdated, with many of the technical lessons influencing future grand complications and helping to push the craft forward.
A pioneer like that leaves a mark; one example of the Calibre 89 sold at auction in 2004 for USD $5 million.
Back in 1989, Philippe himself admitted that the watch’s accuracy couldn’t compare to that of a quartz watch, but argued that watchmaking tradition is more important than precision. The watch reinforced Patek Philippe’s reputation as a visionary, showcasing its skills to the rest of the world, and encouraging other fine watchmakers to step up.
What’s next for Patek Philippe?
Mr Stern’s success ultimately lay in his willingness to make high-risk, long-term decisions. His legacy now lives on through Patek Philippe and his son, Thierry, who took over as president in 2009.
Proving to share his father’s bold vision, Thierry is behind the Cubitus, the brand’s first collection in 25 years.
Patek Philippe continues to release design and technical firsts, such as the Celestial Sunrise/Sunset ref. 5105G-001. The watch became a talking point at this year’s Watches and Wonders, thanks to its ability to display the times of sunrise and sunset alongside a dial charting the Geneva night sky.
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of owning a Patek Philippe. To track down your next timepiece, get in touch with Trilogy Jewellers, London’s experts in luxury Swiss watches.
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