Patek Philippe

Timertom
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Vintage Patek service issues

Its a sad fact that Patek's limited service capability and network for vintage pieces is making it extremely inconvenient and difficult to own vintage Pateks if you live outside Geneva. Owning and looking after vintage Patek watches has become inconvenient to the point of absurd, even if one has the means to afford the expenses involved in my country. I would like to share my experience regarding just 1 such PP within my family, so that people consider this aspect before investing in vintage PP's (anything over 20 yrs old). I live in India, where Patek has 1 competent Authorized service agent for the country. My vintage Ref 2551 required a screw back in 2008. The PP authorized service agent in India is not allowed to even open my watch, not being qualified by PP to work on this old caliber, neither are they allowed to accept the watch to send to PP due to customs issues being faced by PP in India. So, I took the watch to my local watchmaker (for lack of choice) and asked him to open and give me the screw as a sample. Hand carried the minute part carefully in person to Switzerland while on holiday in 2009 only to learn I had to bring the watch, if I was to receive its screw... otherwise, sorry, no screw... wow! Back in India, many hrs writing out pleading emails finally managed to move PP to send me my spare screw through the service agent. PP was magnanimous to not charge me, but the effort, time and trouble I faced for such a straightforward matter was a let down, to say the very least. Fast forward to today. I need service for the same 2551, and getting it out of the country is a chore I just have to accept. I luckily have family visiting Europe who will carry and hand deliver my 2551 to Beyer, Zurich, plus some obliging friends to carry my valuable watch back from Zurich once completed. So here I am, currently in the process of leaving aside all work, back to trading pleading mails with PP to kindly communicate my estimate directly on email after they receive the watch, and asking them to please ship the watch to the address of the friends in Zurich, not Beyer after it is completed. So far its been close to two weeks of hard work and effort, but sorry. The estimate has to go through Beyer and the watch has to be picked up from Beyer itself. So, to service or receive any parts for my vintage watch (of which we own more than 1 within the family), I am, as a cash paying client of the company expected to- 1. hand carry the delicate watches outside the country and deliver to a PP authorized agent. 2. communicate with only this same dealer outside my country for the estimate, job to be done, etc. 3. travel once again outside my country to once again pick up my watch. Is this fair practice? My point is- Yes, Patek undoubtedly makes among the most desirable watches money can buy. Look after these, and they last WELL over 20yrs (within which service is available at any authorized service agent). So, considering they sell in India, and have sold here for over 20 yrs, should it not be PP's responsibility to ensure proper service and spares backup to owners (no matter how old their watches be) in their own country? I own several other vintage watches, including Omegas for which I recently received spares for a 1940's chronometer without any trouble. Authorized service and spares for these are sold to me within 20 mins of my home in my city. I hope my highlighting my problem through this website is able to move Patek to find a means to resolve these important issues quickly. I also hope it serves to inform other buyers about these hidden, often unspoken aspects of vintage Patek ownership.