Thierry Stern

Spear’s Review

‘My father would always tell me, finding somebody who has the DNA of the brand, the vision for it – there’s no school for that. You’re going to have to stick inside Patek Philippe, listen to the people, and it’ll come day by day,’ Thierry Stern told Spear’s. 

Stern has been at the helm of the luxury watchmaking brand since 2009 after taking over from his father, Philippe. The company, which is a behemoth in the world of high-end watches, remains one of the few family-owned watchmaking businesses – alongside Chopard and Audemars Piguet. 

Producing only 67,000 or so watches per year, Patek Philippe has become synonymous with exclusivity and grandeur. But the road hasn’t always been easy, with the company balancing its desire to create and innovate with its history steeped in tradition. ‘You have to evolve,’ says Stern. ‘I need, as the president of Patek Philippe and head of creation, to take risks.’ 

One of them came in the form of a decision to discontinue several of the brand’s all-conquering Nautilus references, and to launch a completely new collection in 25 years, in the form of the square Cubitus.

So far, his gambits seem to have proven effective, with Forbes estimating his personal fortune at $3 billion. Though the figures mean little to Stern, the achievement is humbling: ‘If my grandfather had seen this, he’d be amazed – he’d say “My God, we achieved it!”’

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