Always a visionary believer in mastery – whether in watchmaking or on the water, Philippe Stern, was the man behinds several of Patek Philippe’s most profound creations. Just take a couple of countless examples from the company that he joined in 1963. Nautilus. Calibre 89.
The latter was spear-heading the collection presented for the 150th anniversary of the company back in 1989. This pocket watch, at the time the world’s most complicated mechanical timepiece, was the result of Mr. Stern’s vision presented in the late 1970s after he became the general director: If the Swiss watch industry was to survive, he meant that it should avoid the quartz hype and go all in with classical, artisanal haute horlogerie. That sounds like a given today. But in those days, when the Swiss watch industry was falling like bowling pins in the Quartz War, this was a revolutionary decision in which time would prove him right.
Philippe Stern also understood the importance of access and sharing. Thus, his own collection of timepieces served as the foundation of what became the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva. This fall this horological institution which has (arguably) become the world’s most important timepiece collection celebrates its 25thanniversary. In 2001, the same year the museum was founded, Mr. Stern was also among the decision makers that made Patek Philippe one of the founding brands of WorldTempus, proving that he saw potential in both the history and the future.
The astute industrialist who also introduced the Patek Seal to prove the excellency of Patek Philippe timepieces. “We wanted to find a way of better representing Patek Philippe quality, since it was not clearly defined for our customers. We communicated a good deal on the Geneva Seal, but we wanted to go a step further. The Geneva Seal essentially defines the finishing of the components, which is fine, but it does not deal with the movement's reliability, nor its precision,” he said in a 2009 WorldTempus interview.
Another rarely mentioned example of his long-term vision stems from the mid 1960s, when Patek had around 100 dome clocks collecting dust. But Mr. Stern persisted in still making them, in order for the crafts like enameling and marquetry to survive and flourish. Again, time proved him right.
Was it perhaps also this greater understanding of the nature of things that hat also made the broad-shouldered man a great sailor? Sailing is all about reading nature better than your competitors, and on his beloved Lake Geneva he was among the greatest. This was proven by seven wins of Bol d’Or, the world’s most important regatta held on an enclosed body of water.
The third generation of the previous dial maker who bought Patek Philippe in 1932, Philippe Stern formally stepped aside in 2009 to let his son Thierry Stern – an equally passionate sailor – to take over the reins.
Traditional family values and generational growth aside; it is above as a visionary that Philippe Stern will be remembered by his children, grandchildren and dear friends on the water and in the watch industry.
