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Amy Chew

DEMAND for exclusive hand-made Patek Philippe watches in Hong Kong has grown significantly in recent years.

  According to Patek Philippe president and managing director Philippe Stern, volume in Asia increased to approximately 33 per cent of total sales last year, with Hong Kong emerging as the largest market.

  The Asian market comprises Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Thailand.

  Last year, the company achieved a total of US$1 billion in sales, a third of which came from Asia.

  With the rising affluence of Asian societies fuelling demand in the region, the company has a problem meeting demand.

  ''Each watch is hand-made and it takes about nine months to produce one - as such, we are limited in our production capacity,'' Mr Stern said, adding that to compound the problem, it was very difficult to find watch makers in Geneva.

  Currently, there are only 40 watch makers in Geneva.

  Despite production constraints, Mr Stern said Patek Philippe would not be following the trend set by other watch producers of shifting their production bases to other countries.

  ''We want to maintain our standard and reputation as the finest craftsmen of watches, where every watch is hand-made, from assembling, to polishing and engraving,'' he said.

  The company produces just under 20,000 watches a year. With the growing demand from Asia, the quota of watches allocated to the market may be increased in future.

  Mr Stern said: ''We may increase the allocation of watches to Hong Kong, as demand has been growing well here.

  ''In the past, many of our watches sold in Hong Kong were bought by tourists who were passing through the territory, but now we are getting a lot more sales from local Chinese,'' he said.

  On China, he said the company had yet to enter into the market as it was still a bit early.

  ''Also, consumers from China tend to buy our watches when they are in Hong Kong or when they are travelling outside the country,'' he said.

  Patek Philippe yesterday announced plans to set up a HK$525 million manufacturing plant in Geneva.

    ''To remain at the forefront of Swiss watch manufacturing, it is essential for Patek to have its 10 highly sophisticated and specialised workshops under one roof,'' Mr Stern said.



Better times for watch maker Patek Philippe