To ensure that you never really own a Patek Philippe, every original watch since the maison’s founding will be accepted for servicing

That you never really own a Patek Philippe because you’re just looking after it for posterity is easily one of the greatest and most enduring advertising slogans in luxury — and marketing — history. 

The idea of stewardship over ownership is so noble, so disarmingly persuasive, that it lends yet another layer of preciousness to an already exalted object. What the slogan doesn’t have time to add, though, is how exactly you’re supposed to look after something with hundreds of moving parts for, ideally, hundreds of years. 

Fortunately, Patek Philippe has long considered that as well.

Ever after

Patek Philippe’s approach to after-sales care is so comprehensive that it boldly states it can and will repair and maintain every watch it has produced since its founding in 1839. This is rare. Not because other brands are negligent, but because for many, it is simply impossible.

Servicing a century-old watch demands immaculate archives of historical technical drawings, specialised tools, and the ability to recreate long-obsolete components. Many manufactures have changed hands over time, relocated workshops, or lost records along the way. 

Then there is the less romantic reality: the cost of maintaining highly trained watchmakers worldwide and of fabricating parts for watches that may surface only once a decade.

Even Rolex, renowned for its robustness, guarantees factory parts availability for discontinued models for only 35 years and may decline to work on older pieces if the results risk falling short of its standards. 

Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre maintain formidable restoration ateliers and share Patek Philippe’s reverence for patrimony, but neither explicitly offers the same sweeping “since founding” commitment.

Francois Bauder, international customer service director at Patek Philippe, says, “It’s something very specific to the watch industry. We operate a fully internalised service network, which means 100 per cent of our watches are serviced by Patek Philippe staff.” 

That’s a pretty unique situation, he adds. “It’s one reason why we’ve reduced the number of service centres from 60 to just 12.” And one of those 12 is based right here in Singapore.

One-stop hub

First opened in 2006, Patek Philippe’s Singapore Service Centre has just completed its second major renewal. The expanded facility now spans 828sqm, with additional space dedicated to new equipment and improved workflow, as well as two client lounges and a boardroom.

The team comprises 33 specialists, including 16 watchmakers, who operate the workshop’s four core stations: Essential Maintenance, Movement Intervention, Case Intervention, and Final Control. Before any tool touches metal, every watch undergoes rigorous analysis to verify that it is not stolen and has not been materially tampered with.

The latter is assessed on a case-by-case basis. A vintage watch that has had diamonds added decades ago may still pass muster. A genuine Patek Philippe movement housed in a counterfeit case, however, is a firm non-starter. 

Once cleared, a quotation and projected timeline are issued upfront. Should the work ultimately take longer than anticipated, Patek Philippe will absorb the additional cost.

Regardless, it’s worth resisting the temptation to opt for cheaper, faster third-party servicing. At Patek Philippe, caring for an old watch is treated as if the manufacture were building it from scratch. 

The workshop is equipped with an arsenal of proprietary tools — including a miniature guillotine designed exclusively for trimming Aquanaut straps and leak-detection machines that identify not just whether a watch leaks, but precisely where.

Details you can’t see (or can’t be bothered to see) are given equal weight, such as the alignment of date numerals or the crispness and timing of a calendar jump. Any obsolete components are also replaced with new parts made to the original standards. 

Eugene Bek, Patek Philippe’s customer service administration manager, elaborates, “Our structured training programme ensures that each watchmaker progresses through defined levels, from simple movements to the most complex complications. This ensures consistency, continuity, and mastery across generations of watchmakers.”

Individual attention

Each watch requires a minimum of 200 hours of work, carried out through a carefully choreographed process spanning more than 30 steps. The Singapore Service Centre alone handles over 4,600 watches annually.

That said, there are limits. The most complex movement serviced here is a manual-winding chronograph — already no small achievement — while more complicated watches, such as minute repeaters and perpetual calendars, as well as vintage pieces older than 45 years, must be routed back to Geneva. 

In parallel, Patek Philippe is rolling out plans to equip all 260 points of sale worldwide with compact workshops capable of performing Essential Maintenance, such as battery changes, cleaning, and the restoration of water resistance.

A full service is recommended every eight to 10 years, while Essential Maintenance is encouraged at more frequent intervals, depending on use. But do it. 

As Bek emphasises, “A mechanical watch is a living object. Hundreds of components interact with each other every second. Regular servicing ensures reliability, accuracy, and longevity. Not just for today, but for generations.” 

In other words, while you may not actually own a Patek Philippe, its immortality is squarely in your hands.