Patek Philippe Tour Day 2

After breakfast in the hotel we hopped on to our coach for a short trip to Plan Les Ouates, an industrial area on the southern side of Geneva. I know what you are thinking, luxury watches in an industrial area? Plan Les Ouates is no ordinary industrial area. Locals give it the nickname Plan Les Watches as it is home to many Swiss watch brands (Rolex, Vacheron Constantin, Patek Philippe, Piaget, amongst others). It is also home to several Swiss beauty/cosmetic brands like Clarins.

Upon arriving we had a quick coffee, met our guides and then headed in to the lecture room auditorium for a presentation about the Patek Philippe brand.  After the presentation we were broken in to two smaller groups to begin our tour of the factory. 

Sadly we were not able to take photos inside the factory areas, but it was fascinating to see how the parts are manufactured and machined. 

The tour is really well planned and nearly every area of the factory has large picture windows where you can see in to the machining areas. Alongside the windows or doors are large illustrations of what components are made in that particular area, along with a photo of the actual size of the piece being made and the steps involved in finishing each piece. It is amazing to see a piece of metal go in one end and the finished piece at the other. 

When you see the tiny size of some of the pieces and then are told that they all get polished, you really have to marvel at the skill of the polishers.

After the tour it was time for lunch which was in the private dining salon. Mr. Philippe Stern was our host for lunch. What a lunch it was! Prepared by a chef poached from a Michelin star restaurant, we were informed that he also prepared the meus for the 2 staff cafeterias.

Lasagne style Zita pasta # 18, eggplant confit,poultry and Pata Negra ham.

 Brittany lobster, cauliflower and curry foam.

 Lemon cheese cake, thin vanilla crepes.

 Coffee and chocolates ended our meal.

After our fabulous lunch it was back on the bus for the short journey back in to Geneva central for our tour of the Patek Philippe Watch Museum. WOW what a museum! The Patek Philippe Watch museum houses thousands of watches and pocket watches, and has examples of  clock and watch making from the 1500’s right up to the year 2000. Mr Henry Stern has built up a fabulous collection and continues to add to it. The museum is broken in to tow sections, Antique watches 1500’s to 1800’s and the Patek Philippe collection 1839 to present. There is so much to see that we will definitely be going back for another visit, you could spend a whole day looking at these masterpieces of horlogerie.

http://www.patekmuseum.com/

After a wonderful short tour of this fascinating museum it was back to the Beau Rivage for a quick freshen up and then to dinner at L’Observatoire Restaurant. We knew it was close to our hotel but didn’t realise it was in the hotel next to ours, Hotel D’Angleterre. The hotel is very old school British in style, very elegant and sophisticated. 

Nothing quite like a unique butter presentation!

Mille-feuille of crispy potatoes, vegetable puree flavoured with truffles and crispy chips.

Veal medallion Gamay jus, stuffed vegetables and mushroom filled potatoes.

Caramel pear, pink praline custard and orchid ice cream.

After our second three course meal of the day we were very glad it wasn’t too far back to our hotel and another good night of sleep.