Robin Swithinbank: I've seen the world's rarest and most valuable watches with my own eyes. Now, you can too
Some of the world’s rarest and most valuable watches go on display in Milan later this week — and they’re all made by one company.
Patek Philippe’s seventh ‘Watch Art’ Grand Exhibition begins in the Italian city on Friday and will showcase hundreds of watches and clocks, but the biggest draws will be the Swiss watchmaker’s Calibre 89, Star Calibre 2000 and Grandmaster Chime, a trio of so-called ‘supercomplications’.
The Calibre 89 pocket watch became the world’s most complicated mechanical watch when it was unveiled in 1989 to mark Patek Philippe’s 150th anniversary. With 33 complications — or functions — including a star chart, a thermometer, an indication showing when Easter falls and various chiming functions, it remains the Genevan company’s most complex watch.
Last year, Sotheby's sold a four-watch set of Star Caliber 2000 pocket watches for more than $11.9 million. It was the first time a complete set had been offered publicly.
Five years went into its development and a further four bringing its 1,728 components together. Only four examples were ever made, one each in white, yellow and rose gold and a fourth in platinum. Weighing almost a kilogram, the watch was huge, but it was designed for deep pockets. The last Calibre 89 sale was in 2009, when the yellow-gold version hammered at just over $5 million (around $7.5 million today).
As its name suggests, the Star Calibre 2000 was introduced for the Millennium. This was a pocket watch, too, with a comparatively modest 21 complications. Even so, collectors often view it with greater reverence: the Star Calibre 2000 solved a number of complex horological problems and was awarded six patents, one of which was for an indicator that tracks sunrise and sunset times. It was also the first chiming watch to accurately replicate the melody of London’s Big Ben.
Five sets of four were made, four in gold and platinum, and a fifth in only platinum. The first time a set came up for auction was in December last year, when Sotheby’s sold one of the mixed metal sets for a cool $11.9 million.
The Calibre 89 required five years of research and development, and four years of manufacturing.
The Grandmaster Chime Ref. 5175 was created for Patek’s 175th anniversary in 2014 and has 20 complications, making it Patek’s most complex watch for the wrist. Two of the heavily engraved reversible gold wristwatch’s functions were patented; an alarm that strikes the time in full when it goes off, and another chiming function that sounds the date on demand.
It’s said a Grandmaster Chime took more than 100,000 hours to produce, which explains why only seven were made, one of which has crossed the Alps to Milan from Patek’s Geneva museum. None of the original seven has ever come up for auction, although two years ago Sylvester Stallone sold his Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300, a follow-up variant released in 2016, at Sotheby’s in New York for $5.4 million.
Patek’s exhibition runs until October 18 at Milan’s late-Art Nouveau Palazzo delle Scintille, now known as CityOval. Entry is free with registration and covers access to 15 rooms full of Patek watches, including the current collection and a special range of Italian-themed clocks and watches produced exclusively for the event.
