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Quality Redefined – The Patek Philippe Seal

Ben Walters is a guest contributor on The Watch Lounge who lives in the Northeast United States and is a classically trained watchmaker specializing in mechanical watches. To read more articles by Ben please click here.

Article posted in: Recommended Reading

Earlier this year Patek Philippe announced the introduction of their own Seal, the watch industry’s most exclusive and stringent hallmark of quality. According to the highly celebrated brand a new seal that defined all competencies and features of relevance to the manufacture, precision, and lifelong maintenance of a Patek Philippe timepiece was required (you can read the full press release here.)

I personally observed the introduction of this new Seal with great interest and so I was most fortunate then to receive a new book from the company explaining in photos and text the Patek Philippe Seal.

Published in 2009, and received Halloween week, this beautiful 45 page book explains a company’s decision to create its own quality criterion. This new in house seal replaces the Geneva Seal presumably from now on. This decision and its creation took several years to develop.

The Patek Seal is defined in both performance and aesthetic criterion. Text and unaltered photographs delve into these and other areas as well. While performance criterion are only partly explained, aesthetic ones are truly brought to life with very fine macro photography. The text uses the term Haute Horlogerie to explain what this entails.

What does this mean to the owner of the watch? It means the watch components are all smashing to see! One only need see pages 36 and 37 to understand how special a finish of a watch part can be. Using wooden wheels, the teeth of all steel wheels are treated to a perfect finish. Not simply amazing to see, this special finish improves performance and longevity of the watch.

It could be said this new seal is a response to the marketplace of today, one in which many more watches qualify for the Geneva Seal. It could also be said the Geneva Seal is too restrictive. In any event, this book is available at Patek retailers and is certainly a highly collectible one. After all, it truly
explains what will unfold into a historically significant moment in watchmaking history.

For more information check out the official Patek Philippe website.

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