Extraordinary Measures

Patek Philippe president Thierry Stern holds court digitally to talk up ref. 6301p

- Ashok Soman

Thierry Stern pauses between questions to acknowledge one of his staff who delivers a fresh cup of what we imagine to be coffee. It might be a scene from a presentation at BaselWorld, which Patek Philippe pulled the plug on in 2020. In fact, no major watch fairs took place in Switzerland in 2020, and we expect the same in 2021. Perhaps Stern is taking a meeting at the manufacture in Geneva. Perhaps it is from a visit to the Patek Philippe Museum, also in the same city. It might have been any of those things, and yet it was none. To begin with, the President of Patek Philippe’s audience was not in the room at all. He was accompanied in person by the brand’s communications chief Jasmina Steele, who often sits in when Stern takes questions from the press.

Having said all that, there are five of us from Singapore today, taking turns in stately fashion to ask questions of Stern. The interview happens via one of the many video conferencing mechanisms that are changing the way everyone works. They may be here to stay, even when vaccines make in-person meetings and travel safe again.

On this occasion, digital technology has enabled this meeting, which I certainly had no expectation would happen. The reason this extraordinary session came to be was the launch of the Patek Philippe ref. 6301P. An extraordinary watch requires extraordinary measures, more so during these times.