Thierry Stern, President of Patek Philippe, officially opened the Patek Philippe Institute Shanghai last month. It is the first institute of its kind located outside the watchmaker’s Geneva workshops and marks a new milestone in the brand’s history.

Patek Philippe believes that the skills required to service, repair and restore Patek Philippe watches are much the same as those required to make one. With the opening of the Patek Philippe Institute Shanghai, the company further extends its commitment to customer service in China. This follows the grand opening of the Maison Patek Philippe and upgraded Service Center in Shanghai in 2012. The establishment of Patek Philippe Institute Shanghai is the embodiment of Patek Philippe’s Values and Quality Seal, a commitment to lifelong servicing and restoration for all timepieces, forever preserving their legendary reliability, generation after generation.

The dignitaries at the opening of the Patek Philippe Institute in Shanghai

From left to right: Laurent Cantin, International Customer Service Director of Patek Philippe, Mr Zhou, an official from the Huangpu District of Shanghai, Thierry Stern, President of Patek Philippe and Mr Peter Decu, Chief Representative of C. Melchers GmbH & Co. Shanghai

Patek Philippe’s Customer Service in China

The vigorous demand for customer services, the increasing volume of Patek Philippe watches sold to Chinese customers and the challenging task of recruiting watchmakers in China all triggered the birth of Patek Philippe Institute Shanghai.

“All Patek Philippe watches are made with the intention that they will last forever,” commented Thierry Stern at the opening. “It is our duty to provide the highest standard of customer service, and to make this requirement a key criterion of the Patek Philippe Seal. We believe that the best watchmaker is able to analyze the entire history of a timepiece and fix the watch, whether it was made today or dates back to 1839 when the company was founded. This is the beauty of watchmaking, and this is not something that one can learn from a book.”

Read Thierry Stern’s opinion on customer service in China in Europa Star 06/2012

Having first entered the Chinese market in 2005, Patek Philippe has remained committed to a stable and steady expansion strategy over the last eight years. To meet sustained demand for Patek Philippe timepieces from watch collectors and enthusiasts in China, the brand is pursuing its strategy of long-term investment, dedication to professional customer service in terms of both equipment set-up and watchmaker recruitment and training.

Spanning over 900 square meters, the Shanghai Service Center in Yifeng Galleria can accommodate nearly 30 after-sales employees, including the watchmakers and customer coordinators, as well as eight new apprentices recruited from the newly opened Patek Philippe Institute Shanghai.

Inside the Patek Philippe Institute in Shanghai

The implementation of the Institute was led by Mr. Laurent Cantin, the International Customer Service Director of Patek Philippe. He stated: “From 2009 to 2013, the number of customer service cases grew by nearly 50 per cent in both our Shanghai and Beijing Service Centers. To cater for these growing needs, we are determined to recruit and train local watchmakers to best serve our customers in China.”

Read our interview with Laurent Cantin in the Service, Please! section of Europa Star 01/2013

During a strict recruitment process that lasted about one month, eight apprentices, including four male and four female, passed the tests and were accepted on the programme. The curriculum was designed as a two-year programme divided into four stages. The apprentices will need to complete a total of 3,500 hours courses consisting of watchmaking theory and practice, as well as English. They will be tested at each stage until the qualification is achieved. Apprentices who have completed the full programme will receive a qualification which is equivalent to the Patek Philippe level 2 watchmaker training, allowing them to work directly in the Customer Service Center on watches with basic mechanical, automatic and quartz movements, Mr. Gijs Terhorst, who was hired by Patek Philippe two years ago, is now the technical trainer at Patek Philippe Institute Shanghai. He was professionally trained at the Geneva headquarters and has worked in Beijing since 2011 as watchmaker.

The Heritage of Patek Philippe Service

At Patek Philippe, the international customer service network runs as a non-profit center with investment from the company. In the global network of 55 Authorized Service Centers, each one is handpicked and accredited based on achieving and maintaining a level of service that adheres to strict quality criteria.

In addition to the exceptional technology, know-how, and talents of the Geneva watchmaker, three of most powerful driving forces pushing the brand forward are the Patek Philippe Seal, the Authorized Service Centers and the Patek Philippe Institute, which together will preserve the longevity and integrity of each and every Patek Philippe timepiece.