Patek Philippe Nautilus 5990 (5990/1A-001)

June 13th 2009
- BIPH
After several months of rumours, the news was officially announced this spring: Patek Philippe has decided to progressively abandon the Geneva Seal - of which the brand had hitherto been the most famous ambassador - and to replace it with the Patek Philippe Seal, a label developed in-house. What was the thinking behind this decision? And what does the prestigious brand find wrong with the Geneva Seal? Patek Philippe owner Philippe Stern answers questions put to him by Worldtempus.com.

What triggered the process that led you to create the Patek Philippe seal?
Our lengthy reflection on this issue began four years ago. 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.
Rumour had it that you did not appreciate the fact that Cartier joined the club of brands carrying the Geneva Seal in 2008.
No, it really has nothing to do with Cartier. Simply drafting a list of all the quality criteria relating to the Patek Philippe Seal took us a full two years, so our approach began well before 2008.
The Patek Philippe brand is already a token of quality in itself. Why go as far as to create a Patek Philippe Seal, which only serves to repeat what the brand name already guarantees?
Like many other people, you say that a Patek Philippe embodies excellent quality, and I certainly won't contradict you on that. But it's nonetheless only an impression which is based on our word. We wanted to formalise the whole issue. Today, this feeling or sense of quality is directly reflected in the Patek Philippe Seal and the full list of its criteria which fill several ring-binder files!

Doesn't the fact that this label is self-awarded detract from its credibility?
We thought for a long time about whether we would involve an external consultant. But we quickly realised that the best experts we could hope to find were already under our own roof. Our criteria are so sophisticated in so many areas that people outside the company would soon find themselves out of their depth. We therefore decided to shoulder our own responsibilities by using the extremely rigorous controls that are consistently exercised in-house. We are definitely not introducing anything revolutionary, since we have always worked this way.
Did you envisage other solutions before creating our own seal, which will in due course result in abandoning the Geneva Seal?
Yes, of course. We considered trying to take the Geneva Seal to a new level. But we realised that there was no political will to move things forward. Since the Geneva Seal was established by a law, changing it implies changing the law…

What do you feel is wrong with the Geneva Seal?
We promoted the Geneva Seal through our corporate communication and we are not going to back on that now. However, upon hearing that we were launching our own label, one of my acquaintances told me: "So you no longer need to be afraid of the Geneva Seal now!" I had to tell him that the Geneva Seal had never performed any appraisal at Patek Philippe. Once the movement is approved by its authorities, that's the end of it and there is no follow-up and monitoring. If there is any drifting away from the imposed standards, the Poinçon de Geneve governing body does not take any action, and that bothers us.
And the Patek Philippe Seal addresses this issue?
It sets standards that are extremely difficult to attain, and thereby naturally slows down the brand development in terms of quantity. That suits us just fine, and above all it suits our clients, which is what really counts.

WHAT EXACTLY IS THE PATEK PHILIPPE SEAL?

The Geneva Seal encompasses 12 points defining the materials, finishing and shape of the parts of a movement, as well as its origin. The Patek Philippe Seal goes much further, since the Manufacture is distinguished by its extremely high level of vertical integration. The Patek Philippe Seal is thus intended to reflect the overall quality of the finished watch. Both the movement and the exterior (case, hands and strap/bracelet) are submitted to extremely strict criteria. Importance is also devoted to the precious metals, the alloys as well as the stones set into watches. Rate stability and accuracy are also an integral part of the label. Finally, after-sales service, maintenance and restoration of all watches made by Patek Philippe since its founding in 1839 are fully guaranteed.

To ensure the correct application of written norms of the Patek Philippe Seal, the Geneva-based brand has endowed it with two supervisory bodies: the Patek Philippe Seal Committee and a supervisory authority, the Commission de Surveillance. The former, composed of a technical unit and an aesthetic unit, serves a legislative role: its mission is to define the label's prescriptions, to modify the regulations in step with new innovations and to prepare strategic decisions; the latter is an executive body tasked with ensuring implementation and continuous monitoring of the decisions taken by the Committee. These two entities are overseen by a supreme authority embodied by Philippe and Thierry Stern, respectively President and Vice-President of the Manufacture and guarantors of the Patek Philippe Seal.

THE OTHER CLUB MEMBERS REMAIN LOYAL

Members of the Geneva Seal club (at least the best-known ones, since the full list is not divulged) unanimously confirm their determination to support the state label. Vacheron Constantin has even taken the opportunity to lay claim to the title of benchmark brand for the Geneva Seal (which it prefers to call the Hallmark of Geneva), a status previously held by Patek Philippe.

Instated in 1886 in the form of a cantonal law, the Geneva Seal has undoubtedly contributed to the qualitative improvement of Geneva watchmaking and to the defence of its character right through to the present day. Nonetheless, according to the Geneva State Council itself, the label has not aged too well... In a statement of the reasons behind a proposed "Law on the Geneva watchmaking and microtechnical engineering laboratory", which came into force this spring, it points out that "the current craft-industry type organisation of the Geneva Seal has become outdated (…). It is essentially based on the extremely limited availability of two teachers at the Watchmaking School. This no longer meets the demand of industrial circles, which would like to see continuous opening of the inspection office, and especially during the summer holidays."
As far as the industrial circles thus referred to are concerned, official statements reveal no sign of such discontent. Vacheron Constantin considers that this "historical, independent certification which is unique in the watchmaking world is the finest reference in terms of guaranteeing durability and respect for fine watchmaking traditions." Manufacture Roger Dubuis says it has a "b belief in the Geneva Seal and will continue to have its movements stamped with this label". And Chopard explains that, "being solidly anchored in Geneva, (the brand) will remain faithful to this label", while admitting that "it would be good in the future to see more dynamic communication relating to this certification…"
We would have liked to give Daniel Favre, President of the Geneva Seal Commission, a chance to express his views, but were unable to establish contact with him despite several phone calls.