Thierry Stern explains, “For Patek, we have a lot of reserve cash, and when we had to shut down for a month and a half … it was OK. I knew I had to decrease the quantity [of watches produced] for the year. The target was about 60,000 to 65,000 pieces. I couldn’t do it losing that time, but I am still OK. The business is decreased about 30 per cent, but I am still OK with that.”
Stern explains, “My dad always told me that you have to be ready for a crisis at any time. He faced a few of them in the past, and so that is something I have always had in mind, so when the crisis came, I felt prepared.”
[Credit to Time and Tide who did the interview.] Link to the Forbes original November 20 interview: