Patek Philippe

I noticed a couple of threads which have mentioned that some owners have had to have their rotors replaced due to wear...

 

Is this the entire 22k gold rotor or simply the middle steel portion where the bearing seat is?

I'm assuming that it must be just the seat as to force a replacement of the entire rotor would be very expensive and a poor design?

the rotor on my 3800 was replaced apparently due to worn bearings. the oscillating weight (rotor) was not moving uniformly and apparently could damage the movement. Patek would not offer the international guarantee without the rotor being replaced.

The rotor itself was the price of the overhaul.

It would seem to damage the gold rotor would take a lot of wear on the central bearing suggesting a long time between services.

...it's not gold metal directly contacting the bearings?

I'm a bit stunned that a whole gold rotor could need replacing rather than just a new steel pressfit bearing race.

Someone please tell me I'm wrong because that would simply be poor quality design......

Yep,. you are right!

But Patek think differently...

They do not replace a seal, they replace a whole winding crown...

When they do an overhaul they  replace the hands even when they are quite OK...

This is the philosophy of Patek Philippe - under these strict guidelines only they provide warranty.

It is the price we have to pay when owning a Patek!

But they do a great job at the "SPA" - you get back a perfect watch (like new - except the case).

regards

erich

Rolls Royce saying they'll have to replace the entire engine because of a worn valve seat.

I'm rapidly falling out of love with this company and it's 'values'.  I'm just stunned that you can have so many QC issues massive wait lists for service and still have the gall to claim they make the world's finest quality watches.

Why is it tolerated by the WIS community when there are others like Lange and VC who are more than happy to take our cash for an arguably higher quality product?  Are they just as bad?

I'm seriously considering selling my Patek and moving over to the Germans...

I do believe that the impression that most folks have of something this expensive is nothing short of perfection and when issues arise, the marketing myth disappears in an instant and things become emotional ..anger, frustration, etc.  Certainly very understandable.

This is when the comparisons of watches that have been owned for years and worn very hard that cost a fraction (less than the sales tax on a simple PP) are working just fine and your expensive watch, which is supposedly of the highest level of manufacture,assembly, and built for generations of use, has problems within a relatively short period of time and probably at a pretty steep price.  And I'm not talking about watches which have been worn hard or abused.

Does this sound or feel familiar?   I've heard it many times and experienced some of it myself.

The first Rolls Royce I purchased was  a 7 year old Silver Shadow (many, many years ago) that the salesman assured me of the level of quality and craftsmanship built into every car and that I should not be concerned or have any issues with it, so I bought it and into the legend.  Two weeks later, at an intersection, smoke (almost like a burning house) starts coming out from under the hood.  Two weeks and $5,000 later, I realized that there was a difference in the legend and reality.  The sales managers response to me was, we don't make them to break but things can happen. I think the same can be said about expensive watches.

A lot of companies are living on the coat-tails of their legend exploiting it to the fullest extent possible.  Once the money has changed hands, you have a warranty for two years, but afterward you're on your own with whatever happens.  It just seems that demand (money) and production is adversely interfering with the status of the legend.

I do think that if problems and issues (the reality) with newer pieces continue, the legend will begin to suffer as your comments seem to suggest.



 

I agree that the service cost was quite a shock. According to Henri Stern, there was no service record for my watch. So this just means that the watch was not serviced by Henri stern, not necessarily that it was never serviced. If the watch was never serviced in 20 years, then this cost isn't all that bad. If it was serviced some time in the past by somone else, then it was not made aware to me and for my peace of mind, I wanted Henri stern to give the watch a clean bill of health through all necessary repairs.

Mystique or not, Patek does not cut corners. The bearing and gold weight are one piece and that is it. If the bearing is bad, it all needs to be replaced. Done. That is the price that has to be paid for owning these types of watches and dealing with the manufacture for repair and maintenance. Im sure someone else could do the work for less and maybe JUST replace the bearing. But if I am already spending this much on a watch, it seems foolish to cut corners for maintenance. Like it or not, I will defer to their judgment and expertise.

The subsequent international guarantee is authetic too. The watch stopped a few weeks after that service and it was brought back to Henri stern. There was an amplitude issue that was addresed and I received the watch back in 4 weeks, at no cost to me. I am not sure the exact problem but am happy that Patek stands behind their warranty, especially after this large service was performed. To date, the watch is running -1/+1.

I can certainly understand frustration if the whole rotor was replaced where only a bearing was bad resulting in a sky high repair cost. I still think the more hand work and finishing along with the use of soft precious metals in watch movements, while making attractive movements to look at also make them more fragile and subject to wear and breakage.