"You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation" unless you decide to sell your timepiece for 1,240,400 USD (Euro 925k; £626k). Which is what a West Coast collector did with his Patek Philippe 'Pink Gold Sky Moon Tourbillon' at the Antiquorum auction in New York.
As described by Antiquorum: "Pink Gold Sky Moon Tourbillon Patek Philippe, Genève. Sold on November 10th, 2003. Extremely fine, rare and important, oversized, minute-repeating on cathedral gongs, astronomic, 18K pink gold gentleman's double-dialed chronometer wristwatch with one-minute tourbillon regulator, perpetual calendar with fly-back retrograde date, nocturnal sky chart of the Northern Hemisphere, moon phases and lunar orbit, time of the meridian passages of Sirius and moon, solar mean and sidereal time indications and an 18K pink gold Patek Philippe buckle. Accompanied by a fitted box, a setting pin, Official Chronometer Certificate and a Certificate of Origin. Recently serviced by Patek Philippe."
"Three-body, solid, polished, stepped bezel, case band embossed with the "Calatrava" pattern, concave lugs, sapphire crystals. D. Front: silver, embossed with Patek Philippe logo, applied radial pink gold Roman numerals, concentric retrograde graduation for the days of the month in red on a plain reserve, guilloché subsidiary dials for the days of the week, the months, the leap year and the moon phases. Pink gold "spade" hands. Back: midnight blue sky chart with gold star constellations and North/ South/ East/ West divisions, made from 3 superimposed sapphire crystal disks to display sidereal time, outer divisions to adjust moon phases and sky, outermost Roman hour graduations, aperture for the moon phases. M. Cal. RTO 27 QR SID LU CL, stamped with the Seal of Geneva quality mark, rhodium-plated, "fausses côtes" decoration, 55 jewels, lateral lever escapement with one-minute tourbillon regulator, Glucydur Gyromax balance adjusted to heat, cold, isochronism and 5 positions, self-compensating free-sprung Breguet balance spring, repeating on gongs by activating a gold slide on the band. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 44 mm. Thickness 18 mm."
This timepiece was estimated to sell for between 800,000 USD & 1,200,000 USD so sold for slightly more. Last year, 50 wristwatch auctions around the world with more than 9,000 watches sold for a combined total of £115mn (228mn USD, Euro 170mn). Patek Philippe is one brand which currently dominates the price list.
