PATEK RARE HANDCRAFTS
Where else do the Rare Handcrafts design ideas originate?
Sometimes directly from the artisan, the enameller, the engraver or
from the wood marquetry artist. I know Thierry and Sandrine (Stern)
are inspired frequently when they travel. It is not ideas that we lack
here at Patrick Philippe, it’s how much time do we have to create them.
When we speak about movements we know exactly what we will do
until the year 2030. We have many ideas, and we need to prioritize.
But most of the ideas come from the artisans or from the Sterns.
How do you preserve the craftsmanship?
For most of these crafts, there is no schooling anymore. That’s why we
need to transmit this know-how to younger artisans. We always try to
find new artisans, and we are on the lookout for those able to
create at this high level. Our wood marquetry artisan is the only one
we know of doing this at this micro-level. Also, we always challenge
of our craftsmen and women. If you look at a dome clock made of
grisaille enamel, this year we added beautiful domes, in silver, hand-
engraved and applied. So, it’s not just grisaille technique, it’s at another
level –remember the Brooklyn Bridge piece, where we added gold
powder to the dome clock, which was stunning.
Can you tell us more about the Patek Philippe Salon in Geneva?
We welcome between 36,000 and 38,000 visitors each year to the
Patek Philippe Salon in Geneva. That’s about 100 to 150 visitors per
day. We are very lucky. We have the opportunity to meet so many
customers every day. I always say that Geneva is a small town, but a
very international one. We have sold watches to people from 100
different countries and I’m not sure you find this variety in boutiques
in other cities. For any sales adviser, it is a fantastic experience to sell a
watch to an Australian, then to someone from Vietnam and then
someone from Switzerland, and so on.
Yes, many of them are here for the first time. And if you are in
Geneva just to visit Patek Philippe, you can also visit the Patek Philippe
museum, and if you were invited with a retailer maybe even visit our
manufacture.
This exhibition (of Rare
Handcrafts) is unique, it’s the first
time we have done something like
this here. Ordinarily, every year the
only chance to see the entire collec-
tion is to visit Baselworld. Otherwise
our customers may not get another
chance to see the full collection,
including these one-of-a-kind pieces.
Because for these pieces, typically
they go back to the manufacturer
and then Thierry Stern allocates
them for sale to the end customer.
An example
of a wood
marquetry dial
Swiss Alps, with wood
marquetry dial.
86 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | FALL 2018
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