The keeper of this tradition is Philippe Stern, whose grandfather bought the company in 1932. Stern's father, Henri, ran the company before him, and he is preparing his son Thierry, 35, to take over when he steps down. No one would be surprised if one of Thierry's young children eventually takes over - one of the boys is named after Adrien Philippe, who helped found the company long before the Sterns were involved.

"One of the big advantages of a family business is continuity," says Stern, an elegant, quiet man of 68 who in his younger days was a member of the Swiss national ski team as well as a champion sailor who won many regattas on Lake Geneva. "Business is always conducted the same way, with no big changes. We concentrate on watchmaking; that's what we do best. We don't want to diversify. We have a long-term vision, and we are not obliged because of shareholders to always watch the value of the shares, to watch if the dividends will grow. So we can make long-term investments, like coming here to this building in 1996. That was a big investment, and maybe shareholders would have preferred a big dividend. But this was part of our strategy."

The decision not to diversify means logo-driven consumers won't find Patek Philippe pens or leather jackets or key chains. They are not licensing their name to anyone making chic sunglasses or fancy jewelry. They make watches. Their annual production of timepieces­ is not limited by demand, which is rising, but by the paucity of highly skilled watchmakers and the need to train them slowly and carefully so that standards can be maintained.

"To train a young person, on average, it takes almost 10 years to reach the top," Stern says. "We want to grow, but that's not the main goal. Our growth is slow because we first have to find the people, and that takes time. You can see we have many young people in our workshops. We want to be sure they have the know-how. We are training them here. We have a school for them. So our production is limited."