Expansion of the manufactory Patek Philippe

The construction of a new building will serve several different purposes:

• Innovation: to intensify applied research in watchmaking techniques (to supplement the research projects conducted by the Patek Philippe professorial chair at the EPFL), especially by installing new test and homologation laboratories.
• Fine craft trades: creation of a new «Fine craft trades» entity comprising around forty in-house and external craftsmen. This division will also be home to a training centre for these specializations in which Patek Philippe takes such a keen interest.
• Service: ensure the manufacture and storage of spare parts to consolidate repair activities, with particular reference to the restoration of old watches.
• Training: centralisation in Geneva of training needs in the fields of watchmaking, repairs and sales and marketing for watchmakers, distributors and retailers established in Switzerland and abroad.

The Genevan manufactory which brought all its activities together at Plan-les-Ouates in 1996 has expanded greatly ever since. In 2003 it transferred its exterior parts activity to Perly. Then in 2009 it enlarged the Plan-les-Ouates site and refurbished a building to accommodate the manufacture of all components dedicated to timepiece movements.

With a usable floor space of some 50,000 m2 spread over six floors and four basement levels, this new building will offer a capacity well in excess of present needs. In 2018 it will enable all the Genevan activities to be brought together again on a single site, while also holding a great deal of space in reserve for the development of the business in Geneva during the next twenty to thirty years.

The new building will comply with the standards of very high energy performance (H.P.E.) dictated by the Energy Act affecting both the shell of the building and the technical installations. The overall performance of the building will therefore be comparable to the Minergie P. label.

February 12, 2015