Patek Phillipe Service and Maintenance (Long English version)

I think for me the idea of luxury is really to give a service for a family business like Patek Phillipe we believe that our watch should last forever I [Music] have seen too many sad story about Watchers who have been repairing outside the Patek Phillipe authorised a retailer's Network this is a high level watches the parts were inside for just for a simple movement we're really talking about 150 parts minimum those parts are very difficult it took us minimum five years for example just to make a simple movement at paddock this is why we really insist that the customer is going back to an official Patek Phillipe retailer because he will take care about the watch the way we think it's the best for the watch it's about training it's about years of experience the best watchmaker for the afters of service he is able to see the whole history of the watch a statment he is able to fix a watch where is the military Peter of today but he is also able to fix a watch who is a minute repeater from the beginning for the old watches after 30 years some parts we have to redo them they don't exist anymore we have the tools we have the knowledge we have the people and they can restart from scratch any will and this is also the beauty of the watchmaker here this is not something that you will learn in the books we need to be part of the protected family to be able to handle our watches this is a know-how that we have since 1839 if you want to keep a watch keep it accurate keep it beautiful we are asking to our customer to come back maybe every five years to clean their watches so I can rial them and they can be ready for another five years [Music] within the last two years we have more and more watches which come from the customer for the restoration in different statues sometimes watches are completely destroyed and Patrick Phillip is able today to remain spare parts to refurbish completely watch the spare parts which has been used by the service is produced directly in the production area that is reason we are able to ensure that the quality other production but also the service side will be completely the same even for the machinery today we are using tools which were used in the beginning of the last century which is not produced anymore and we are able with some watchmaker to do intervention which is not possible to do with new machine I haven't watchmaker who is doing poverty and is able to we make a complete balanced stuff and the thickness of one of the pilot is less than 1/2 which is not achievable with very modern machine even the watch making school today are not training young people to do this kind of job this is also a commitment of patek philippe to really ensure that those craftsmanship will still be following I will say the next generation the watchmaker begins the dismantling process by removing the movement from the case he then carries out a diagnostic test to check its accuracy a mechanical movement contains between 150 and 350 individual parts depending on its complexity dismantling it typically takes one to two hours during which the watchmaker must diagnose any potential damage that needs addressing the watch is taken apart and the main organs of the movement are all checked these are the motor organ the distribution the regulation and transmission the watchmaker identifies the condition of the components diagnostics is an important skill requiring many years of experience intuition and a vivid understanding of micro mechanics carefully examining each component is vital to completing a proper service or repair during a repair service around 10 pieces are systematically replaced these are parts that are extensively used and subject to wear and tear once dismantled the components are taken to be cleaned special liquids and ultrasound remove any traces of old lubricants or residues when the cleaning cycle is complete the watchmaker begins the reassembly for a simple mechanical movement this usually takes between five and eight hours hundreds of different mounting procedures must be observed all the components are reinstated to their respective places and in the correct order adjustments are made between the components to ensure proper function and timing during reassembly the movement is real most components within a watch require lubrication to guarantee proper functionality and wear resistance typically there are up to 150 oiling points in a mechanical movement applying the lubricant in the prescribed amount at the exact point of need is a skill of great importance if too much oil is used it can spread to where it isn't required creating a void where it is needed resulting in wear and tear and eventually failure finally the watchmaker places the dial on the movement while checking the play of the moving parts the space between the dial and the gear trains which is necessary for smooth operation the hands are driven into the arbors and the watchmaker checks the functions before the movement is cased up the accuracy rate is adjusted and checked in six different positions corresponding to the most common positions of the watch and the Patek Phillipe quality control criteria you before it is polished the case is dismantled and taken to be washed throughout the polishing process the case is washed three to four times after each jewelry polish or rhodium plating operation the 45-minute wash cycle is an integral element to the polishing process it cleans the parts and importantly removes any residue you all polishing is carried out only at the request of the owner often marks and scratches become a part of the watch's character and hold sentimental value if the owner wishes for these to be kept this will of course be ensured traditional polishing uses discs coated with an abrasive paste the disc may be made of fabric felt natural or synthetic hair depending on the desired effect the form of the disc is adapted to the operations that need to be performed on the case polishing is performed by hand and is free-floating meaning without pressure a particularly difficult polishing technique which requires experience to master satin finishing uses plates covered in very fine emery paper discs this is specifically used to refurbish the case back Emery stick polishing uses a wooden baton again covered with extremely fine Emery paper the use of the stick is adapted depending on requirements it is used both for the bezel and for the case back in extreme circumstances the case may require major intervention by the doula such as replacing a lug or rectifying deep damaged laser soldiering is used to reattach exterior case components and fill any deep imperfections that are not rectifiable by polishing [Music] diamond polishing is used only rarely and restores a mirror finish to case surfaces which traditional cloth polishing wheels are not suitable for first the case fitter measures the dimensions of the case to ensure this operation can be completed a diamond tipped cutting tool attached to a special lathe is then used to gently remove minuscule amounts of case material it is a specific operation used on the edges that retains the angles and the original shape of the case rhodium plating involves coating with a fine layer of rhodium by electrolysis the metal is often used to give a beautiful color to white gold or for certain movement parts you after polishing the glass is fitted on the case it is placed into a polymerization compartment to fix the blue excess glue is carefully removed and the case is again placed in the polymerization compartment this time to harden the glue new gaskets are fitted the case back and crown are reassembled waterproof watches are tested for water resistance a final aesthetic control is then completed before the case is returned to the watchmaker you the final assembly of the movement is undertaken in a clean or dust free environment called a laminar flow the movement is working during this recasting process the watchmaker replaces the rotor the inside of the front of the case is cleaned before the movement is put back in he replaces and repositions the crown using a touch of silicon that improves the crown functionality final traces of particles are removed from the case and it is partially closed the piece is then heated slightly to remove any humidity that may have accumulated the case back is then definitively closed the K stop movement is again tested for rate accuracy in adherence with accepted tolerance levels before being taken to the final quality control area you the quality control the tests previously performed by each specialist the final control process lasts 14 working days and consists of a series of tests to verify the aesthetics and functional controls self-winding speed power reserve accuracy and water resistance the self-winding speed test verifies the winding capacity of a self-winding movement within a defined time the test for rate accuracy measures the amplitude of the balance after complete winding at zero hours and then 24 hours later power reserve control measures the total running time of a timepiece between the moments when it is fully wound to when it stops if the timepiece is still running after the defined power reserve test period it moves on to the next test kinetic simulation aims to simulate the movement on a customer's wrist various dynamic and Static observations are conducted over a 48-hour period water resistance control is performed only on watches that are guaranteed to be water resistant they are tested by means of leak flow rate test the watch is placed in a pressurized cavity for around 30 seconds if no air seeps into the watch the test is passed after successfully completing all the tests the most severe in the Swiss watch industry the watch undergoes a final visual inspection a check of its functions and is set to time the bracelet is reattached and the watch placed into vacuum packaging ready to be returned to its owner

Channel: Horolograph

Views: 1,723,692

Rating: 4.7966533 out of 5

Keywords: Patek Philippe, Watches, Overhaul, Luxury

Id: bhRqIhHZkmk

Length: 16min 56sec (1016 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 02 2012

Reddit Comments

[u/rrrsssttt]

I know this is actually a form of marketing on behafl of the company, but I still found it interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes.

The thing that would terrify me is either sneezing and blowing all those tiny gears and gizmos all over the place; or taking a deep breath and accidentally inhaling a tiny widget.

[u/Heisenberg--]

That handcraft

[u/Drago1214]

I need to make more money haha. Man Patek is wild knew it was hard core but that this intensive.