Patek Philippe

Your watch has been at the service center for 18 months?!

Came out for 2 weeks and went back in...

Sorry I'm just trying to understand (have recently bought a 5990 which has developed a small flaw).

What is PP's reasoning for such a long turnaround time?

18 months including a 'break' of 2 weeks is hard to comprehend for me...

Add to that the summer break and all, and it is not unexpected. I don't have extensive experiences with their service wait times, but speaking to other owners, it would appear that 6-8 months is a reasonable wait time for a regular service. I'm assuming that repairs, especially for intermittent problems might take a bit longer.

you should get the watch back and push for a quick intervention imho.

Hope it will be solved quickly.

Cheers, Mark

Tried on a 5164 at an AD today - love it. Would be my first Patek - but this post is scary!!!? £23k for something that I might need to send back for 18months! That is beyond ridiculous - I would ask for my money back! Is that the standard service queue? Should I not bother and look at a different ref if 5164 is problematic? 5167 and something else too? Any advice most welcome.
Cheers

and it is very hard (impossible?) to tell from just a few posts we see on the net if this is frequent or not, especially as you never know who is behind and if they don't use it as a leverage. I've seen on other platforms many "haters" looking for misleading people. I'm personally very cautious about these posts.

As concerning Patek, the 324, 240 base calibers are known to be very reliable.

But 0 default doesn't exist either, in any brands.

I read and hear much more thrilled owners than people who had this kind of problem. There is not reason why it should happen during your next purchase experience and, using our search function, you'll see that 5164's (and 5167's) owner's are very happy with their watch.

I would not be upset by the stories you find here and there frankly. Personally I'm not.

I see it is your first post on our forum so let me welcome you on PuristSPro

You'll find many threads dealing with the watches you're looking for and you'll be able to make an interesting opinion and see that a watch can't be reduced to 1 or 2 negative experiences.

Do not hesitate to PM the owners if you want to have a reliable feedback.

If you make the step please don't hesitate to share some pictures, we'd love to share your first purchase with this brand with you!

Cheers, Mark

Things can and will go wrong and a small percentage in (mass..?..hand) production will be DOA. Ok in handmade watch making DOA would and should be the wrong term but let's call it FAA (Faulty After Arrival). But things get solved.

But the 18 months service time.....that is beyond ridiculous indeed. It simply is.

I wonder why is that so.

Thanks Mark. It was my first post and i appreciate the feedback. It does seem unusual to have two of the same ref have the same issue, but I don't know how many have been produced. The thing that disappointed me most was the length of time it seems to take to service/fix the watch - seems very excessive to me if genuine - do you have any insight as to how long a standard service at PP takes? The AD I spoke to didn't offer any discount on the watch but said he would pay for the first service. This sounded ok to me - what do you think? Many thanks

Yes, for 18 months, I think there is a reason as it usually should take around 3 to 6 months depending on holidays or not (especially summer time), where it is serviced (there are some places where the volume is much more difficult to handle like in the US for isntance) etc...

However some pieces are sent to Geneva directly (especially the complicated ones), hence:

- with the pick-up by the shipping company (1 or twice a week)
- customs controls exit of the country and also before entering Geneva (can take a long while there)
- technical checking at the manufacture
- cost estimate sent to AD, which then sends it to the client who sends it back to the AD who sends it to Geneva
- overhaul work performed (considering the type of complications which can be handled only by very trained watchmakers)
- period of testing
- back to customs again (1 to 2 weeks, with leather issues if with strap etc...)
- arriving after a few days/weeks at the final destination's customs with their own regulations and checking (US with leather, taxes etc... for instance)
- shipped to AD.

This can take a long while added to the servicing time.

If you also have a specific technical issue they have to solve it and thus can be much longer.


As for the deal with your AD, we don't discuss about this kind of private negociations on PuristSPro, we remain on the only side of watchmaking passion, the watches etc.... It is very personal, depending on your relationship with your AD etc...

Cheers, Mark

All very helpful and apologies for discussing the deal - thanks for the pointer!

As Arie said, this kind of purchase is really special and I'm glad you can make it.

Cheers, Mark

And if you are happy with that deal, it's a good deal.

Don't forget that you will acquire a special watch from a special brand and the moment you strap it on you will smile for a very long time.

Again; a service time like mentioned before is appalling and we (customers) should rebel way more. But sadly it is what it is at the moment....








This message has been edited by Arie on 2016-03-05 12:40:42

Thanks for your help!

So I'm very happy with my first Patek!

However, see if you can spot the mistake... :-(

I contacted my AD and he will ask Patek what the options are on Monday....any advice on what an acceptable outcome might be???

I think it will depend on what the issue is. Let's wait and see what the watchmaker says.

Enjoy it

Cheers, Mark


This message has been edited by Mark in Paris on 2016-03-12 07:34:17

Thanks Mark. Looks like they forgot to add lume to the '1' on the '10'!

but wonder how it is so as the numerals has its white paint in your other picture. That's why I think their advice will be interesting to know precisely.
We'll see
Cheers, Mark

My AD called PP today - they have a replacement face, turnaround should be pretty, fast fingers crossed!

Problems can happen and I think that the way brands solve it is very important and that's what I expect from a high-end brand.
Cheers, Mark