the patek philippe: the authorized biography mystery

IMMERSION AS A KEY FORM

OF STORYTELLING: PATEK PHILIPPE

A Two Week Snapshotof What’s Trending

in the Luxury Watch Industry

02 November 2016 - 15 November 2016

OURMISSION

The mechanical watch is a wonderful instrument and the guardian of craftsmanship

and creativity.

Our objective as the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie is to take this wealth of expertise

into the world through our four missionsto inform, train, recognise and organise.

Since 2005, we have promoted valuesof excellence and tradition within

an organisation that has the supportof numerous brands.

In this series of trend reportswe aim to discover which stories,

pieces of news and industry developmentsin the world of haute horology gain

the most amount of traction in the digitalsphere - uncovering why these trends

are important to the industry.

Every two weeks we’ll be diving intothe world of digital conversations to discover,

what’s trending.

SNAPSHOTOF THE PERIOD

TRENDING TOPICS AND STORIESBETWEEN NOVEMBER 02 TO NOVEMBER 15

Percentage of conversations on luxury watches penetrated by the topic

Armin Strom released a new timepiece, the Mirrored Force Resonance watch

Panerai have released two special edition timepieces, the Radiomir 3 Days Acciaio

Last week Geneva held host to the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie

Nicholas Foulkes has released Patek Philippe: An Authorized Biography

Phillips auction house sold a Patek Philippe 1518 in steel last week for $11 million, the highest price wristwatch ever

1.25%

0.95%

0.77%

0.59%

0.59%

VOLUME OF CONVERSATIONSON HIGH-END WATCHES

What’s been published on the HH Journal:

Phillips sets a new auction record for a wristwatchPhillips auction house sold a Patek Philippe 1518 in steel last week for the $11 million, the highest price wristwatch ever.

GPHG 2016 : and the winners are…Displaying the biggest winners of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.

Panerai - Less is moreSome background on the newest watch in the Panerai collection

Armin Strom – Good vibrationsTelling us what’s so special about the Armin Strom Mirror Force Resonance

ANALYSINGTHE SOCIAL BUZZ

OF PATEK PHILIPPE: THE AUTHORIZED

BIOGRAPHY

Patek Philippe: The Authorized Biography is not quite as simple as it sounds. It is a first of its kind in

the world of Fine Watchmaking and something truly unique. Until now, the history of the 175 year old brand

has been almost a mystery to common folk like us.

Nicholas Foulkes was - for the first time ever - given access to exclusive interviews with the Stern family

(the company’s current owners), as well as with current and former employees.

He was also free to look at formerly unseen documents from the Patek Philippe archives which reveal, for example, the story of the unique watch bought by Queen Victoria for her husband Prince

Albert. He was even granted the privilege to interview the widow of Gerald Genta, the designer

of the brand’s iconic Nautilus, on the year of its 40th birthday.

The 544 page book includes a 40 page watch reference guide with picture notes and looks over the

brand’s full history; from when Antoine Norbert De Patek was exiled to Geneva after the Polish uprising right through to the fourth generation of the Stern

family who have made the brand into what it is today - one of the biggest fine watchmaking brands ever.

“I’ve tried to tell Patek Philippe’s unique life story in a way that captures his enthusiasm, passion and near religious depth of feeling that this historic maker of watches inspires

connoisseurs and collectors all over the word”

- Nicholas Foulkes, writer of ‘The Authorized Biography’.

Among Influencers

8.34%Penetration of conversations by Patek Philippe in Swiss watch

related conversations

56.18%Increase of Patek Philippe

mentions against the previous two weeks

12.95%Of mentions of Patek Philippe are

in relation to Nicholas Foulkes

Beyond Influencers

2,464All online mentions of

Patek Philippe

18.92%Decrease of Patek Philippe watch mentions against the

previous two weeks

1.75%Of mentions of Patek Philippe in

relation to Nicholas Foulkes

BEHINDTHE TREND

Why has a brand that for 175 years kept its history almost exclusively to itself now decided to share their

stories with the public? Connection.

This need to connect with audiences isn’t a new trend, but the innovative ways in which brands are now doing so definitely is. Teaching consumers about their past to

secure their future.

It’s trying times for the Swiss watch industry; traditional brands are feeling the need to connect on a more

personal level with their target audience. Traditional storytelling is becoming a tried and tested method.

Immersion is the new storytelling.

With new digital media methods (and now virtual reality) becoming prominent, it’s becoming easier to immerse an audience. Long before these methods existed, people would use books as a method to

immerse themselves into something other than their own life.

Immersion is a way to create an instant connection with a consumer. Burberry’s new campaign tells us the story of their founder, Thomas Burberry,

and does something similar to the Patek Philippe biography. Whether the people spoken about are dead or not, projecting ourselves in their lives is a way to give them an existence and a way to give

a brand an instant and deep connection with their audience.

Founded by Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie,the HH Journal is an online publication covering

watchmaking news in all its forms.

In collaboration with London-based agency RE-UP,The HH Journal is producing a series of trend

reports to analyse which current topics within the high-end watch industry are trending online.

Two key social tools are used to gather the data to analyse the current trends: An in-house database

of 2,000+ influencers and online sources specialising in luxury and watches – with the

ability to gather insight into 6 months’ worth of conversations. A social listening tool, allowing to measure and examines all online conversations.

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