Patek Philippe

I purchased a new 5119r in Dec 2007. This watch was bought as a dress/ saturday watch so I did not expect to wear it so often. When I bought the watch I noticed that the original strap was a little too short, only fastening on the last hole of the strap. The dealer changed the strap for a slightly longer one. This allowed me to fasten the strap on the first or second hole depending on how tight or loose I wanted to wear the watch on my wrist. Very soon I noticed that the watch was a terrible time keeper, sometimes losing hours or even stopping. It took me a little time to discover that as the watch moved on my wrist the crown came out and either moved the hour and minute hands or totally stopped the watch. So, the crown would come out, change the time, and then push back in, without my being aware that it had happened. You can imagine this was difficult to discover initially. After this had happened on a couple of occasions the crown came out of the watch completely and was lost. Luckily, I was in London at the time so I took the watch into the Patek Salon and after six weeks it was returned with a new crown fitted under warranty. The watch repairer's report noted that the watch seemed a little dry! and the watch would probably need a full service. At this time I had owned the watch for only four months. So much for 'merely looking after it for the next generation'.

Well my question is: has anybody else suffered from this problem? Even after the fitting of the new crown I am still intermittently experiencing this problem.

i would take it back to your AD and nicely suggest that they send it back for a complete check up, if you are experiencing the crown coming out this is not good and im sure PP will rectify this immediately as they dont want to here stories of this kind about PP, is it only the crown or is it losing time too what are the problems you are having, im sure someone here will be able to help advise, also these things can happen to all watches after all they are mechanical and man made, let us know how you go.

You know, I've heard of this problem before with the 5119. I was also thinking of getting this watch but something's holding me back. These complaints do not help. Maybe we only hear the bad stories... Anyway, I would definitely demand a full service within the warranty period. Your problem is unacceptable.

The observation regarding the dryness means that the watch has been sitting at the dealer for a long time, and/or under the warmth of his spot lights! This can affect the accuracy of the watch and accelerate the wearing of the parts. I have to assume it was lubricated properly in that first service. Nonetheless, I wouldn't think the dryness is related to your crown problem. I am sure PP will do their best to keep you happy.  Keep us informed!

Thanks for your responses. I have been back to my local AD and we have had a chance to compare my watch to an identical new model. It was interesting to note that the force required to pull out the crown on my watch was noticeably less than on the new watch. My watch will have to go back to Patek for service/ adjustment. Coincidentially, I have been invited to visit the Patek Philippe factory in Geneva in a couple of weeks time, so this might short circuit matters.