Philippe Stern, former president of Patek Philippe and the father of current president Thierry Stern, died this week at age 88. He is remembered as a “pioneering and visionary spirit” who left an indelible mark on the still family-owned watch company. (Photo courtesy of Patek Philippe)
Geneva—Philippe Stern, who served as president of Patek Philippe from 1993 until 2009 when he passed the reins to his son and became honorary president, died Sunday at 88.
The company announced his passing in a statement shared earlier this week.
Born in Geneva in 1938, Stern followed his family into the watch business after graduating from college with a degree in economics and commerce.
Philippe “practically had watchmaking in his genes,” the company said. His grandfather, Charles Stern, and his great-uncle, Jean Stern, were dial makers and suppliers to Patek Philippe.
They acquired the Patek Philippe manufacture in 1932, and the brand has remained in the Stern family since.
Philippe started at Patek Philippe in 1963, working in New York for the company his father started, the Henri Stern Watch Agency, which distributed the brand’s watches in the United States.
In 1966, he transferred to the company’s headquarters in Geneva and worked in various departments to gain a better understanding of the business.
In the 1970s, Philippe began making trips abroad to help introduce the brand in new markets and, in 1976, he “boldly” launched a steel luxury sports watch that is still coveted among collectors, the Nautilus.
The following year, he was promoted to general director and made two decisions that continue to shape the company today.
First, he pushed to keep making and investing in mechanical watches amid the “quartz crisis” that many were sure would destroy the Swiss watch-making industry, believing that “a discerning clientele would always prefer fine craftsmanship, exclusivity, and exquisite artistry to mass production,” the company said.
Second, he was firm about Patek Philippe remaining an independent company at a time when many watch brands were joining, or being acquired by, large luxury conglomerates.
In 1993, Philippe became president of Patek Philippe, succeeding his father, Henri Stern.
According to the company, his primary concern was preserving the brand’s financial and technical independence.
To this end, he took the “decisive step” of consolidating Patek Philippe’s numerous Geneva workshops into one facility in the Geneva suburb of Plan-les-Ouates.
In 2001, Philippe realized what the company described as his “lifelong dream”—the opening of the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva, which houses not only the brand’s watches but also timepieces that illustrate the entire history of watchmaking, beginning in the 16th century.
Thierry Stern had this platinum minute repeater, the Ref. 1938P, developed and manufactured in honor of his father’s 85th birthday in 2023. Only 30 were made. (Photo courtesy of Patek Philippe)
Outside of work, Philippe was an avid sailor, skier, and art lover. He had a particular interest in collecting paintings of his beloved Lake Geneva.
Between 1977 and 1992, Philippe won the Bol D’Or regatta seven times, all aboard successive multihull ships named Altaïr.
In 2009, Philippe’s son Thierry took over as president of Patek Philippe, and he became honorary president, continuing to monitor the brand’s development and oversee the museum.
In celebration of Philippe’s 85th birthday in 2023, Thierry dedicated a new watch to him, the Ref. 1938P, a nod to the year Philippe was born.
The watch combines a minute repeater with an alarm that chimes the programmed time. The timepiece is powered by a movement that’s exclusive to the reference and has an enamel portrait of Philippe on the dial.
Patek Philippe made only 30 Ref. 1938P watches.
The company described the timepiece as a “beautiful tribute to a man of culture who considered a watch as a piece of art and who, thanks to his spirit of entrepreneurship, allowed the family legacy to flourish, while also contributing to the global prestige and understanding of fine watchmaking.”
