Patek Philippe’s famous slogan, “You never actually own a Patek Philippe, you merely look after it for the next generation,” places its creators under something of an obligation to put those words into practice. If not, this dogmatic declaration would be just another advertising cliché. I thought the best way to find out whether this promise of longevity had any substance was to go and see first-hand how a company like Patek Philippe manages its after-sales service. I was not disappointed. In fact, I was blown away.
"We will take on anything, and I do
mean anything, made since 1839,
provided it is signed Patek, Czapek
& Cie – Fabricants à Genève, Patek & Cie
– Fabricants à Genève, Philippe & Cie or
Patek Philippe. Everything in our current
collections is handled by our aftersales
service, and the rest goes to our
restoration department," explains our
guide Jan-Philip Senger, who joined the
company in 1964. As he speaks, he gesticulates
towards the benches where a
hundred or so watchmakers are working.
Every discipline is represented: watchmaker,
watch-repairer, restorer, escapement
maker, timing adjuster, pivot maker,
jeweller, polisher, micro-technician, assembler,
case-fitter and quality controller.
All the branches of a complete manufacture
are here under one roof. This Patek
Philippe department is more than just a
factory: it is also a repository of watchmaking
lore. People sometimes say that
the cemeteries of the Vallée de Joux are
full of watchmaking secrets that have
been lost forever. Here, however, these
trade secrets are proudly passed on.
When it comes to restoring or rebuilding
the spindle of a gear-train that was cut
out by hand not long after 1839, there’s
no CNC machine that’s up to the task.
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RESTORATION BY EAR
Let’s meet Franck Pernet, one of the
‘stars’ of this workshop, which is probably
unique in the world. Despite his work demanding an almost Buddhist
degree of concentration, he becomes
garrulous and animated as he describes
his job with infectious enthusiasm.
“When I’m drilling pivots on the lathe
all my senses are heightened. I listen
to the metal, I hear the sound change
with each micron, and it’s my ears that
tell me when it’s right, when it’s time
to stop.” Rebuilding spindles and gears
is the basis of all restoration work.
Everything begins with the gear train,
the fundamental moving part, which is
the most subject to wear and oxidisation.
“Right up to the start of industrialisation
each handmade watch was, to
all intents and purposes, a unique piece.
Standardisation only came in gradually.
In order to restore or rebuild a timepiece
you have to, in a way, retrace the steps
of the person who made it, a century or
more ago.” No sooner has he finished
his explanation than he turns back to
his bench to demonstrate the use of
the bow. We are told it takes ten years
or more to master the lathe – an invention
that has been traced back to
Ancient Egypt in 1300 BC – with the
hair’s-breadth precision necessary. But
however ancient it may be, the lathe is
by no means obsolete. Once set in motion
with the bow or motor, it is capable
of performing actions that are invisible
to the naked eye, so infinitesimally fine
that only the ear, the eye (aided by a
loupe) and the hand of the craftsman
can detect them.
Surely there can’t be too many people left
who master these techniques? “When
I arrived, 22 years ago, there were two
generations. Now, there’s just one, and
I’m currently training up two new young
lathe turners!” he says proudly. “But we
work as a team. All the different disciplines
have their role to play.”
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150 YEARS’ WORTH OF SPARE PARTS
There are not many people who know
how to use a depthing tool compass,
which measures the distance between
a gear and the adjacent pinion, or operate
a mandrel lathe (which, despite its
rudimentary appearance, makes it possible
to increase the precision of placing
gears, pinions and escapements in
three dimensions), or perform chamfering,
knowing which particular wooden
or metal file to use, or the bevelling and
polishing of plates and bridges, flat polishing
or rounding, or countless other
skills, some of which very nearly disappeared
without trace.
Here, the tools and the activities that go
with them are carefully husbanded, like
a living treasure. And a second treasure
is to be found close by, in the ranks of cupboards,
cabinets and miniature wooden
drawers. “The enormous advantage we
have is that Patek Philippe has operated continuously since its creation, and we
have never thrown anything away. Our
drawers are filled with period components
which were deliberately produced
in excess, blanks dating back decades,
which we are now finishing today. It
means we can meet 90% to 95% of our
restoration requirements. If anything is
missing, we make it. You should also be
aware that every watch made by Patek
Philippe is catalogued in our archives.
Using the serial numbers of the cases
and movements we can keep track of
the history of each watch. We call this
the ‘carnet de santé’ or health record,”
notes Jan-Philip Senger. “We have 150
years’ worth of components, which is
6 to 8 million parts,” he adds. “It’s extremely
expensive to keep these stock
levels, not to mention all the tools, but
it’s a priceless asset!”
Alain Battmann, former head of the Restoration Workshop (he still works there, seemingly disinclined to leave) explains how the workshop’s structure evolved. “Before, the department was called watch repair, but after the incredible boom of the early 1990s, when thousands of people suddenly seemed to realise that their grandfather’s old Patek Philippe might actually be worth something, we were inundated with watches. That was when we split the workshop into two parts: one for everything from 1839 to 1970, and the other from 1971 to the present day.” He goes on to explain the procedure. “We examine the piece and start by cleaning it up, dismantling it, keeping as many components as possible, evaluating what can be kept and what needs to be replaced, and we draw up an estimate. Once we have been given the go-ahead we rebuild the gears, rebush the components, give them to the watchmaker to assemble, repolish the steel components by hand, lubricate, get the balance wheel/hairspring in working order and make adjustments. The same goes for the case: we replace the crown, refurbish or rebuild the dial, polish and check everything over, both before and after the movement is replaced in the case, which comes to 2 x 18 days for checking alone...”
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THE TRACES OF TIME
Watch restoration, like architecture,
has its schools of thought: some feel it
is better to leave some evidence of the
passage of time, others want their timepiece
to look like new. At Patek Philippe,
the rule is to change as few components
as possible, in order to leave the piece
in its original, historic, condition. Twenty
years ago many collectors thought differently,
and it was usual for watches
to be completely repolished. Today, it
seems, collectors prefer their timepieces
to retain some trace of their past. But
whatever the aesthetic, Patek Philippe
always seeks to leave the watch as close
as possible to its original state. For example,
the pinion axles are always the
first thing to go. Generally, thanks to the
extensive inventory, the watchmakers
in the workshop can make them from
semi-finished blanks. But if a particular
blank no longer exists, they redesign this
minuscule component and insert it into
the original sprocket wheel.
The same goes for the case. The ‘manufacture
within a manufacture’, which
is equipped with every machine that
could possibly be needed, is capable of
rebuilding anything, as well as soldering,
filling and polishing. The service is
necessarily personalised because, as the
watchmaker at his bench points out,
“Every watch has led a different life, it
has passed through the hands of different
owners, sometimes been ‘repaired’
more or less carefully on the other side
of the world... Each watch has its own
face, its own personality, its own emotion,
if I can put it like that.”
See the article: Meeting with Laurent Cantin, Director of International Client Services, Patek Philippe
Source: Europa Star February/March 2016 Magazine Issue