The Art of Business Inherited by Patek Philippe

　　As aPatek PhilippeThe fourth-generation successor, Thierry Stern, appears composed, steady, and exudes a gentlemanly air. Sitting beside him is his father, Philippe Stern; this amiable gentleman in his seventies is the current Honorary President of Patek Philippe and the third-generation successor. Let us now explore the business philosophy inherited by Patek Philippe.

　　An Appreciation of the Business Art Inherited by Patek Philippe

　　A passion for watches is the phrase most frequently mentioned by the father and son. Recalling the time and ideals of his early tenure, Thierry Stern says, Everything began with interest and passion. At that time, he was only 6 years old, yet he had already developed a great interest in timepieces. I was in my father's office and saw 15 pocket watches neatly arranged in his drawer. I told my father, I want to make such exquisite watches too. That was the origin of my passion for horology, and to this day, I can still clearly remember the look of that drawer and the scent of its wood.

　　In this family business with a long history of 173 years, Thierry Stern, like his father Philippe Stern, grew up in the world of watches. Through subtle influence, that love for horology was planted early on. Philippe Stern recalls, I love watches. Since I was a child, my elders were always talking about watches at home, and I was surrounded by them. From 1965, collecting watches became my hobby, and today, there are over 3000 pieces housed in the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva. They showcase the evolution of watchmaking since its inception and are the best witness to my growth from ignorance to maturity.

　　Passion and love for watches led the father and son into the beautiful world of Patek Philippe, and even when they encountered setbacks, new opportunities emerged from this persistence born of love. In 1970, the quartz crisis from Japan impacted the entire Swiss watchmaking industry. In Philippe Stern's memory, That was a difficult period that brought a huge crisis to the Swiss watch industry. Everyone said the mechanical watch manufacturing industry was coming to an end. But I said to my father, No! If only one company remains to produce mechanical watches, it will be Patek Philippe. At that time, relying on his love and persistence for watchmaking, Philippe Stern resolutely decided to continue manufacturing mechanical watches with his father and revolutionarily launched a new mechanical movement. For ten full years, he led the company through the crisis, establishing an unprecedented and excellent position for Patek Philippe, making the brand the industry's highest benchmark for manufacturing high-precision and highly collectible complicated timepieces.

　　A passion for watches is the most grounded trait of Patek Philippe and its family members, and for the inheritance and development of the family business, this is also the most long-lasting and effective cornerstone. Because of this love for what you do, you often immerse yourself in it quite purely, studying and striving for it. As everyone knows, the minute repeater is one of the most difficult and complex crafts in watchmaking. Making a timepiece tell time accurately is already difficult, and making the chime melodious is an even more arduous challenge. However, the chime of Patek Philippe minute repeaters is world-renowned and rarely matched. Thierry Stern still personally checks every minute repeater timepiece from Patek Philippe to this day. I love listening to the chimes from the mechanical world, so for me, this is not a complex task, but a real enjoyment. Because of this persistent love, Thierry Stern ensures that every Patek Philippe timepiece is delivered to every customer with the most perfect standards—undoubtedly, this is what I should do, and in fact, it is a natural thing.

　　For the father and son before us, watches have extraordinary significance; they contain the love and passion of several generations. This love also comes from all the watchmakers at Patek Philippe, whose exquisite craftsmanship is inseparable from their persistence in pursuing their ideals and the career they love. At the same time, the love and passion for watches from every customer and collector also drives Patek Philippe to uphold tradition in every past era, while constantly innovating and passing on high-quality service and lasting value.

　　Regarding this, Philippe Stern says with emotion, It is not just Thierry; I hope that in the future, the successors will continue to maintain this purest passion and focus on watches, to a certain extent restrain commercial desires, and commit to achieving the highest level of craftsmanship and reputation.

　　Persistence and Innovation, the Most Ordinary Grinding of Daily Work

　　With passion and love as the cornerstone, this is a career that requires persistence every day! Looking back on his decades in the watch industry, Philippe Stern's deepest realization is that for Patek Philippe, it possesses more than just a family name; people often pay special attention to the successors of a family business; people will ask you, or even challenge you, to test whether you are qualified, or just a parachuted executive. Therefore, it is very beneficial and necessary to understand every aspect of the family business in the details of work and to be familiar with every product to cultivate a long-term vision and reputation.

　　From a childhood watch enthusiast to the young leader of the entire family business, the two generations of Patek Philippe successors before us have both experienced long periods of tempering. Philippe Stern once went to New York, USA, to understand Patek Philippe's products and consumers from the sales source. During the two and a half years I worked in the United States, I always travelled from New York to various cities in the US. At that time, I would always carry a backpack containing Patek Philippe products, visiting every customer to show them the ultimate craftsmanship and aesthetics of Patek Philippe. Later, Philippe Stern returned to Geneva and studied in every department at Patek Philippe headquarters, from attaching straps and making dials to craft design. This long and arduous rotation experience certainly benefited Philippe Stern greatly, allowing him to truly understand the operation of the watchmaking industry and the responsibilities of watchmakers.

　　This steady and rigorous tradition and the spirit of daring to innovate without fear of testing have also been passed down to the fourth generation of the Stern family—Thierry Stern spent ten years waiting for the opportunity to work side-by-side with his father. At the beginning of his career, Thierry Stern was sent by his father to Germany to develop new markets for Patek Philippe. Within two years, he personally came into contact with the retail and sales fields and observed sales processes and strategies at close range. After leaving Germany, the young Thierry Stern went to the United States for another two years, where he visited all the retailers in this large market. After returning to his homeland, Thierry Stern continued to work at the grassroots level, focusing on learning the production of components for straps and external watch parts. This experience was arduous but invaluable! It gave me the opportunity to participate in sales, inventory management of bracelets and components, after-sales service, and business relationships; at the same time, I was also able to work side-by-side with many outstanding watchmaking artists and observe unparalleled traditional watchmaking craftsmanship and techniques from them.

　　Mentioning the biggest and most direct challenge when he first took office, Thierry Stern frankly admitted that it was the need to gain insight into the manufacturing process of every watch and the precious stories behind them through extensive research on materials and products. At the same time, Thierry Stern also needed to quickly adapt to his multi-role responsibilities—product lines, technological innovation, financial status, and even human resource allocation. Thus, the career that started with passion had just begun.

　　As two generations of Patek Philippe successors, the father and son before us have both, at different levels, forged new horizons for the brand. Philippe Stern's father, Henri Stern, was more philosophically minded: "He always told me that Patek Philippe must remain family-owned, independent, and maintain its tradition of small-scale manufacturing. I agreed with many of his views, but in a rapidly changing business environment, Patek Philippe needed a certain degree of expansion to continue developing." Consequently, Philippe Stern restructured the company and strictly defined divisions of responsibility and detail: "As the company's workforce grew and markets expanded, ensuring every employee understood and was clear about their allocated responsibilities became absolutely essential for a family business. Naturally, everyone's sense of belonging and responsibility increased, which greatly influenced their efficiency and achievements."

　　As Philippe Stern's son, Thierry Stern, coming from a modernised world, has shaped a brand-new way of working while inheriting the business traditions of his forebears, injecting technological and modern thinking into Patek Philippe. He discarded the mountains of paperwork on desks in favour of advanced electronic technology and equipment, allowing him to keep track of every stage in the workshops anytime, anywhere. "This is a fast-paced world, and I want to personally connect with every employee, retailer, and customer. Therefore, many of our originally tedious working methods and processes needed to keep pace."

　　At Patek Philippe, the Sterns spend a great deal of time with their employees, paying attention to whether they face difficulties, whether they are happy, and whether they can achieve a sense of personal fulfilment. At the same time, they maintain close relationships with retailers and consumers, travelling to different cities to attend events, chat with them, and understand their needs and satisfaction levels. "A human-centric approach to management and cooperation is also one of the key elements in sustaining the success of a family business. It may not be difficult, but it is something that requires daily persistence and focus." Philippe Stern says, "We have always maintained an open attitude, striving to work with people in better ways."

　　In terms of business strategy, Patek Philippe has always held onto its most traditional conviction: not blindly following trends. Thierry Stern explains: "At Patek Philippe, we are committed to innovating watchmaking craftsmanship, but it is by no means a fashion brand that synchronises with changing trends." For every new timepiece from Patek Philippe, subtle adjustments are made to the design's colours, dimensions, and details, yet they always retain the classic elements unique to Patek Philippe. This is the shared belief of every generation of successors: "To dedicate ourselves to the most perfect innovation of movements, and to let classics endure forever at Patek Philippe."

　　Craftsmanship and Conviction: The Most Precious Values of Brand Heritage

　　Patek Philippe and each generation of successors influence and change one another. Yet, the core traditions that sustain the brand's spirit have become a solid foundation. In a more open and innovative soil, they have matured into a brand-new realm. The brand spirit and values of Patek Philippe represent an eternal pursuit of the most perfect watchmaking craftsmanship, and even more, the transmission of the most sincere and genuine life convictions across generations.

　　What Philippe Stern learned most from his father, besides a passion for horology and a pursuit of perfection, was the importance of conveying emotion. This is also one of Patek Philippe's brand philosophies: "When you own a Patek Philippe watch, there is actually emotion contained within it; it is a part of you, a testament and reward for your achievements. Customers' love for Patek Philippe is often unrelated to price or craftsmanship; they talk about their lives and those most precious moments in life. This gratitude for and inheritance of life memories is truly beautiful."

　　"This beautiful emotional experience is also the core brand spirit of Patek Philippe, and I wanted to pass it on to Thierry Stern." Indeed, the Stern father and son before us are very close; they always make decisions together and share their insights. "Thierry and I have worked together for nearly 24 years. We do meaningful things together, communicate with the people around us, and focus on manufacturing the highest quality, most perfect timepieces. I emphasise this to Thierry almost every day, so he has absorbed it and was well-prepared early on." In Thierry Stern's memory, Patek Philippe in the 60s had 150 employees, whereas today that number has grown to 2200. "From the moment I started in this family business, my father taught me the core brand philosophy of Patek Philippe and constantly reminded me—it is the longest-lasting commitment to standards of extreme beauty, high quality, and human-centric manufacturing." "Adhering to brand values and philosophy is extremely important."

　　"Of course, while I pass down Patek Philippe's traditional philosophy to Thierry, he also has his own ideas and judgements," Philippe Stern admits. To bridge any "differences" in this communication, Philippe Stern took an unconventional path: "In the early stages of Thierry Stern's career, I introduced a very senior friend in the industry to work with him. I had known this friend since university, and he understood Patek Philippe and the core traditions of the family business very well. He always encouraged Thierry to think through the challenges he encountered and find solutions, from which Thierry benefited immensely." This "mentor" not only guided Thierry Stern to a deeper understanding of Patek Philippe but also acted as a buffer between father and son, providing immense help to both during the most difficult initial phase.

　　At the same time, brand values and emotions are not only passed down between generations of successors but also require the understanding and support of all employees and participants in this family business. They need to integrate the brand philosophy and spirit sustained within the family business as the driving force for their own careers. To this end, Patek Philippe has established a series of training programmes specifically for new talent, allowing them to gain a more genuine understanding of Patek Philippe. Thierry Stern also smiles and says: "We reject office politics and instead bring everyone together as much as possible. When you enter a family business, you are actually joining a large community of 2000 people."

　　Admittedly, almost every company has its own brand values, but for Patek Philippe, there is indeed a difference. Thierry Stern says: "Many companies might write down their brand values but need to constantly dig for deeper meaning to use them as a marketing tool. But at Patek Philippe, we have already been practising those precious ideas passed down through generations in our daily work. It was just that one day, my father decided to write them down, and that was it. Having brand values is easy; the hard part is putting them into practice during daily, complex work. It is not a textbook either, but a naturally formed summary of experience."

　　"However, in many countries, there are other family businesses with long histories, so for Patek Philippe, we still have a long way to go," Philippe Stern adds modestly.

　　At Patek Philippe, each successive generation inherits the most treasured teachings from their forebears, blending their own newfound insights into this tradition to carry it forward. Today, as the fourth-generation head of Patek Philippe, Thierry Stern is also in the finest prime of his life and career. When speaking about the education and upbringing of the next generation, Thierry Stern offers his own understanding and interpretation: "My children are still young, and for them, the most important thing right now is to receive a proper education and learning. I do not demand that they come first, but they must continuously learn. Secondly, they are already beginning to have some awareness of the brand, and are beginning to subtly understand Patek Philippe and the industry their forebears are engaged in. Therefore, they are likewise aware that they grow up in a family with a relatively privileged economic foundation—at this point, it is extremely essential for them to learn to respect others and to be down-to-earth in their conduct and matters. After all, until their own hard work and efforts, these privileges do not belong to them." Thierry Stern admits that this is not merely to cultivate the next generation with the capability to become successors to Patek Philippe, but even more so to ensure they possess a kind, sincere, and independent personality in the future. "Of course, just as my father taught me, if my next generation in the future possesses things they are passionate about, I will not force them to join this family business, but rather encourage them to give full play to their passion and potential!"

　　Thierry Stern remarked with emotion, "Every morning when you look at yourself in the mirror, you should be genuine, filled with passion and experience. A you like this will be proud of the achievements you have attained, and at the same time, truly shoulder the responsibility of constantly inspiring yourself, practising humility and being down-to-earth, and challenging yourself towards greater perfection and creation!" This is the understanding of life's value that Thierry Stern learned from his forebears, and one that he will continue to pass down.

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