Patek Philippe

As background, in 1989 I had the pleasure of attending the viewing for this legendary auction at Tiffany in New York. This auction opened up a whole new world for me and for a lot of other people. The auction by Habsburg, Feldman / Antiquorum truly changed the course of watch collecting in general and Patek Philippe in particular. Prior to then, auctions were rather sleepy affairs, predominated by pocket watches. Patek Philippe was barely known by other than a relatively few connoisseurs. This auction in a sense "put Patek on the map" and ignited the vintage watch market. Spurred by all the excitement I bought one of the 150th anniversary pieces, a yellow gold officer's campaign watch, which I purchased from an AD. 

While this post is focused on the auction world I preface it by stating my preference and practice when buying current production Pateks is to buy direct from my AD. I want a brand new watch and want my name on the Certificate. This started in 1989 and has continued to this day. When buying direct, you can be pretty confident you are getting a perfect watch (and in the rare instances where it is less than perfect Patek will happily rectify the problem). Also, in supporting your AD and Patek you in effect become part of a family. Like many of you, I have attended numerous Patek exhibtions, dinners and events. This is very special. So I urge you in buying current production Pateks to buy brand new from your AD.

For the last 30+ years I have read virtually every watch catalogue for the Geneva, HK and New York sales of the current big three, Phillips, Sotheby's and Christie's. This post is focused only on these 3 auction houses.

I have attended more viewings and auctions than I care to remember. I have bought many vintage and discontinued Pateks at these auctions. I have numerous friends, from the lowest to the very highest levels at these auction houses and have enjoyed countless dinners, lunches, etc with them. I have seen how diligently they work and how seriously they take their work, often working almost unimaginably long hours leading up to the big auctions. I have seen the quality of the catalogues reach ever higher and higher levels of sophistication and quality. From the extraordinary quality of the images to the almost encyclopedic knowledge conveyed in the reviews. I have seen 8+ pages of text and images devoted to the rarest and most historically important pieces., And if you are pursuing one of these "whales" the department will gladly email you many high resolution images taken from all angles of case, dial and movement to help you make your decision. 

The watch departments at these 3 auction houses provide substantial revenues to their companies and are taken very, very seriously by those companies. And the people who work in these departments are deserving of the greatest respect and appreciation for their contributions to our knowledge and to the hobby/business generally.

That said, please be under no illusions. The auctions are a business and in buying, one must be quite careful and wary. One must do their own due diligence and research thoroughly. You are buying "as is" and should approach making a purchase accordingly.

Patek understands the important role these companies play in expanding their brand and drawing excitement for all the world records, which is why each Patek magazine focuses 2 pages to the exceptional prices vintage and special Pateks achieve at auction.

If you have never attended an in person auction of the big 3 I highly recommend. It is an incredible experience. A readily available substitute is to watch online live. At the pinnacle IMHO is Aurel Bacs at Phillips. Truly amazing. Perhaps one of the most knowledgable historians out there, certainly so in the watch auction world. Plus it is like attending a show. Great fun!

Auctions at the big 3 are coming up in both Geneva and HK. I urge you to check out the catalogues, all of which are available online. These catalogues are really works of art in themselves. In paper versions they are suitable for any library of horology.

In conclusion, perhaps my greatest  source of whatever knowledge I have about Patek and its history, beyond all the treatises, blogs, magazines, etc. comes from the auction world, particularly in reading and studying the catalogues, trying on the watches at viewings, attending auctions, following the results and occasionally being the lucky winning bidder.

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