Patek Philippe

The subject of the drop of the Geneva Seal by Patek Philippe has been out for months now. It is now official and we know more about what is to come, even if not all yet.

The criteria of the Geneva Seal were observed by Patek Philippe for more than a century. These criteria apply to the quality of finish and to some technical aspects of the calibres. Highest quality calibres are the essence of a Patek Philippe watch. Still the Geneva Seal requirements were apparently no longer enough for the Patek Philippe management.

Officially there's an excellent reason to go beyond the Geneva Seal for Patek Philippe. The Patek Philippe philosophy of excellence goes beyond the quality of the calibre, as the Geneva Seal does. The Patek Philippe quality must be warranted for the whole watch, and beyond the watch for the whole service and experience that goes with the watch.

The new Patek Philippe Seal will cover the full watch quality through its calibre, its case, its dial, its hands, and even spring bars, in technical and aesthetical and functional terms. The parts are covered through their construction, but also through their materials quality.

The accuracy will also be tested with uncased calibres and then also with complete wristwatches. Accuracy tests will be complemented with numerous tests and inspections that will be documented. The Seal will have lasting effects has it also comprises a lifetime service promise.

Who would complain of such a complete commitment?

Furthermore Patek Philippe is an independent company, both financially and to a large extent industrially as a real manufacture. As an independent company Patek Philippe has chosen "a new label that clearly expresses its very essence and distinctiveness, a level of perfection that far transcends what external statutes and official standards prescribe".

Isn't Patek Philippe enough of a reference, not to rely on third party controls, especially if these controls don't seem enough relevant anymore?

The new Patek Philippe Seal

Don't you find that the new Seal above has a hint of Rolls-Royce fame!

There is indeed another excellent official reason to adopt such a new (and internal) Seal: Horology is evolving and old techniques are not always the best solution any longer, even if they've been so for long and numerous decades.

Patek Philippe wants a Seal that can take into account the advances in technology. The manufacture states that it "never stopped its quest for continuous improvements in regards to the performance of its timepieces". So as to keep on the "constant refinement" the Patek Philippe Seal is created as a "dynamic quality label: its set of rules accommodates current and future developments that are suitable for the advancement of timekeeping".

Indeed we cannot as collectors be appealed by the Patek Philippe Advanced Research watches and then not be keen on seeing advances applied to timekeeping that can be allowed by the increasing and warranted seal of quality.

An advertising campaign to explain

Of course there is possibly and probably another explanation for the creation of this Seal. This explanation that adds to the others is not official. Patek Philippe was not the only brand to use the Geneva Seal image to promote its watches and quality. Other brands have very long used it for a little part of their production. There are even brands that have just begun in the last years to use the Geneva Seal image, in some cases for only one calibre among a large range.

This easy use of the Geneva Seal image has quite probably diluted the aura long linked to the Seal. I guess we can understand that with the commitment to quality and excellence personified by the family that heads Patek Philippe, it was not possible to standstill, it was needed and desired to "serve the company" even more and go further.

The Seal will be a personal commitment of the Stern family as it is personally backed by the President and the Vice-President of the company as "Guardians of the Patek Philippe Seal".

The seal will be defined by a "Comite du poinçon Patek Philippe" acting as a legislative entity that will "define the rules, adjusts to accommodate relevant developments, and prepare strategic decisions. This Comite will in fact consists of two: one technical and one aesthetical, but constantly communicating.

A supervisory authority, the Commission de surveillance, will monitor the observance of the edicted rules and implement the new decisions. It will be completely independent from the production side and will report to the legislative entity.

Stamped for ever

We will hopefully see the content of the new rules very soon, as the new Seal will start replacing the Geneva Seal this spring.

It's now time to discuss this new Seal, isn't it?

Cheers

Dje