In 2013, a Christie’s auction stunned the world with a record setting, eye watering sale of a Patek Philippe Grand Complication. The specific watch in question? Stephen S. Palmer Patek Philippe Grand Complication. The hammered price? USD2.25 million for a Patek Philippe Grand Complication pocket watch completed in 1898 and sold in…
Every once in a while we receive the question whether we could live with just one watch, and which watch that would be. You have probably also fantasized yourself of trading (all) the watch in your collection for just one watch. One Watch Only! In this article, we take a look at watches that we […]
Until the advent of Vacheron Constantin Reference 57260 in 2015, Patek Philippe’s Caliber 89 held the record for being the most complicated timepiece in existence; it remains Patek Philippe’s most complicated timepiece. And now Sotheby’s is auctioning it in May 2017.
Introduced in 1989 for Patek Philippe’s 150th anniversary, the Calibre 89 was a landmark in watchmaking, becoming the most complicated watch (or rather portable timekeeper) ever made, boasting 33 complications. Though the Calibre has since been superseded by the Vacheron Constantin Ref. 57260 with 57 complications, the Calibre 89 held the record for so long it’s significantly more […]
Ask people about their favorite Nautilus, and you can expect a variety of answers. Some prefer the original time-only model in steel; others want a moon phase or a precious metal. We fell in love, at its introduction in 2014, with the Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph.
In the 1980s you may have read perhaps a few entertaining books by Jackie Collins, who passed away on September 19, 2015 at the age of 77. She was a very wealthy woman after 47 years of publishing bestselling romance novels, and now Bonhams is set to auction her estate of 1,000 lots for an estimated total of $3 million on May 16 and 17, 2017 in Los Angeles, and there are a few interesting watches included. In fact, I’d say surprising watches.
Over 20 years ago, Patek Philippe had unified all of its operating and production units from a scattering of facilities across Geneva into a central campus in Plan Les Ouates. While that might seem good business sense, it was a high risk decision made during the 1995-96 period of industry turmoil. Yet, two decades down the line Thierry Stern…
The 2017 edition of the Grammys was largely quiet in terms of spotting watches, or was it? We know rapper Jay Z is a watch connoisseur and has many timepieces from notable brands. What he was wearing on the evening was pretty epic but went under the radar because it was difficult to see under the cuff of his shirt.…
In the world of vintage watches, Patek Philippe’s chronographs with perpetual calendars occupy a category of their own. They are benchmarks in the industry, and that goes especially for the Reference 2499, which we examine here.
Introduced in 1996, the Patek Philippe annual calendar has had a stellar run, becoming of the brand’s bestsellers. Thanks to its modular construction, the annual calendar mechanism has been fitted to a variety of base movements, but its most classic form is arguably the window-type display found on the various versions of the ref. 5396. […]