Patek Philippe

patrick_y
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My response

1. I am very sorry to see Patek leave the Geneva Seal of which it has been the superstar receiver of said Seal for so many years. I think the Geneva Seal is a good indication of solid quality, detailed finishing, and is the benchmark of fine movements. I do not believe that the new Patek Seal can establish the same immediate recognition as the Geneva Seal possesses, at least not in the short term.

2. To differentiate bare minimum Geneva Seal movements and Patek watches that go above and beyond Geneva Seal requirements, there needs to be some sort of identifiable differentiation. For instance, Patek could have both the Geneva Seal Hallmark and the Patek Philippe Seal Hallmark both stamped on the movement. If this is too redundant, then a coloured Geneva Seal could be stamped on movements that meet a special level of Geneva Seal requirements.

3. The new seal does continue to make Patek an attractive watch in the eyes of consumers and collectors alike. However, the lack of an identifiable and widely accepted standard (this being the Geneva Seal) is cumbersome. Personally, I would be very sad to see Patek dump the Geneva Seal from its movements, since I consider it to be a time honed tradition. I think it will eventually boil down to which watches get the Patek Philippe Seal (I'm assuming not every watch will get it) and which ones will only qualify for the Geneva Seal. If Patek plays the game like this and charges a premium for watches with the Patek Philippe Seal, I think it will be soon well-accepted. But it also sets a bad precedent, what happens when other companies that barely go above and beyond start making their own seals. Then we'll be back to where we started. This message has been edited by patrick_y on 2009-03-20 01:10:17