Not a boutique, not a pop-up: Inside Patek Philippe’s Singapore Service Centre

SINGAPORE – Singapore’s latest horological hot spot is not a boutique or a pop-up, but a quietly humming workshop above Orchard Road. At Wheelock Place, the newly renovated Patek Philippe Singapore Service Centre has swung open its doors.

A key figure at the Jan 22 reopening ceremony was Mr Francois Bauder, Patek Philippe’s international service centre director. Trained in the tiniest of details – he holds a master’s in microengineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne – he now operates at a far larger scale, running the luxury Swiss watchmaker’s global service network.

His role goes well beyond talking about gears and springs. At its core, it is about looking after watches for generations to come – making sure the craft, care and know-how behind each piece are preserved long after the timepieces leave the workshop.

One of 13 authorised Patek Philippe service centres in the world, the expanded facility now spans more than 8,000 sq ft, cementing its role as a key service hub for increasingly discerning collectors in Singapore and the region.

Up front, there are comfortable consultation lounges where clients can speak directly with certified watchmakers. Behind the scenes is where the real work happens.

Mr Bauder is especially pleased with the technical upgrades. 

“The renovation gives us more space, which means we can handle many more repairs,” he says, pointing to the expanded focus on case refurbishment and polishing. The goal is not to make watches gleam, but to restore each case to its original lines without erasing its history – delicate, precise work that leaves little room for error.

The timing of the reopening feels just right. In 2025, the Singapore team picked up Patek Philippe’s global Excellence Award, a distinction earned after a tough end-to-end audit. That includes “mystery watch” checks that scrutinise every step, from the first quotation to how the finished watch is explained to its owner.

“Singapore’s lead times are already among the best in the world,” Mr Bauder says. “With the new facility, they’ll only improve.”

The space continues to support four core stages of servicing: essential maintenance, movement work, case work and final control. However, it now does so with upgraded equipment and a 33-strong team, including 16 watchmakers.

For clients, that translates not just to shorter waiting times, but also a clearer sense that their watch is entering a system designed for the long haul.​

Across the world, Patek Philippe counts about 260 watchmakers in its service network, all following the same curriculum and climbing the same ladder of complexity – from quartz models to perpetual calendars and beyond.

It takes a full career to move through the seven internal service levels, and at least 10 to 12 years of training before a watchmaker is authorised to work on the most complex pieces.​

Mr Bauder is most animated when he talks about people. In an industry still closely associated with Swiss alpine workshops, visitors may be surprised to learn that most of the watchmakers at the Singapore centre are locals.

That is very much by design. Singapore is home to one of just four Patek Philippe Watchmaker Institutes worldwide, alongside Geneva, New York and Shanghai. Apprentices train here for two demanding years before heading to Geneva for final certification.

“It would be easier to fly in Swiss watchmakers,” Mr Bauder says. “But the better way is to build local expertise.”

The harder part is finding the right temperament. “The younger generation likes speed,” he says. “But this job is the opposite of rushing. It’s about patience, focus and being happy to work on tiny parts for hours on end.”

What runs through Mr Bauder’s thinking is a clear focus on the long term. Patek Philippe has long promised to service every watch it has made since 1839. As production continues and the number of Patek watches in circulation is expected to double over the next 30 years, the support system has to grow alongside it.

“Preparing for the future means two things,” he says. “First, logistics and making sure the right spare parts are available. Second, people. Building knowledge and skills takes far longer than organising parts.”

Mr Bauder has handled watches worn by kings, queens, entrepreneurs and stars, but he resists picking a favourite.

The real thrill, he suggests, lies not in celebrity provenance but in the quiet continuity of objects that have ticked for 150 or even 187 years and can, with the right care, keep going.