There is a Patek Philippe watch called the Grandmaster Chime. It spent about 7 years in development. For the brand’s 175th anniversary, only seven of a special edition of this watch were made. Six of them were sold and the last one is on display in the Patek Philippe Museum, Geneva. If you would want to wear one of these Patek Philippe watches, you might have to cough out 1.9 million pounds. In fact, one of them was even offered recently for 50 million dollars. That’s not all. You can’t just buy one because you have the money. You would be put on a queue, sometimes as long as eight years. You would be evaluated to see if you qualify to wear the watch. So it is beyond your money. They want to be sure you have the class. They also want to be sure you would wear it and not just buy and sell it at a higher price. Yes, it is an asset too! These investment pieces are usually kept and passed down from generation to generation. The perfection of this watch like other Patek Philippe watches is measured in microns. For context, one of your hair strands is about 100 microns, so imagine the precision involved in making one of the watches. Making one of the watches could take from 9 months to 2 years (all handmade). Patek Philippe is not just one of the most expensive brands in the world for nothing. They earned it. There is attention to detail, a tradition of innovation and a standard of excellence that is difficult to match. They have done far more than the traditional watch maker does to stand out and be where they are today.

So the question to you and I is, “What are you willing to do to stand out?”

You may want to have a YouTube video that has over 1 billion views like Ed Sheeran or Justin Bieber? Or have over 300 worldwide patents to your name like Dr. Lola Awoniyi-Oteri. Or win 5 or 6 Ballon d’Or awards like Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. Are you giving what it takes to lead the pack?

Let’s get some insights from Patek Philippe. Pay attention to details — fine details matter. Innovation is important — there is always a better way of doing things. Bring the edge of excellence to whatever you do — it is a moving target but it makes a better you.

Have a productive week!