Rare Patek Philippe watch sells for $17.6mn

GENEVA: A Patek Philippe timepiece that in 2016 became the most expensive wristwatch ever sold at auction fetched an even higher price this weekend, auctioneers Phillips said Sunday.

The watch sold for 14,190,000 Swiss francs ($17.6 million), surpassing the 11 million francs it fetched nine years ago, or $11 million at the time.

The Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Reference 1518, made in 1943, is one of only four known to have been made in stainless steel – its rarity making it more sought-after than those produced in gold.

Its 2016 world record price for a wristwatch was overtaken in 2017 by Hollywood star Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona which fetched $17.8 million.

That was then surpassed in 2019 by a Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime, which sold for $31 million.

But the stainless steel 1518’s sale this weekend reaffirmed its status “as one of the most historically significant wristwatches ever made”, the auctioneers said.

Phillips said the sale took just under nine and a half minutes, attracting five bidders, with the watch ultimately selling to a telephone bidder.

Several well-known collectors, dealers and watchmakers were in the room to witness the sale at the Hotel President in Geneva.

Phillips said a 1518 was the sort of watch that once acquired, “a connoisseur can feel to have reached the utmost peak of collecting”.

Launched in 1941, it was the world’s first serially produced perpetual calendar chronograph.

Patek Philippe produced around 280 Ref. 1518 watches, most of them encased in yellow gold, and around a fifth in pink gold.

Only four in stainless steel are known to exist, with this watch being the first of those four to be produced. Why Patek Philippe made them remains a mystery.

The auctioneers called it “a timepiece of almost mythical status, it stands as the ultimate convergence of historical significance, design mastery, mechanical innovation, and rarity”.

Across the two-day auction, Phillips said the total sale of 207 lots achieved more than 66.8 million Swiss francs, which it said was the highest total for any watch auction.

Some 1,886 registered bidders in 72 countries took part.