Patek Philippe Releasing 170 Tiffany Blue Nautilus 5711 Watches
While all of us in the watch community were debating the next chapter for Patek Philippe and the Nautilus Ref. 5711, including whether the brand would release a titanium 6711, Patek Philippe has announced a new (and very limited) 5711 with Tiffany blue dial and Tiffany dial stamp. This will likely become the holy grail among Nautilus collectors as only 170 of these pieces will be produced, and be available exclusively through boutiques.
I am very rarely shocked by something one of the major watch brands does, especially a traditionalist brand like Patek Philippe. Patek Philippe has been content to stamp previous iterations of the Nautilus with “Tiffany & Co.” and call it a day. The release of the Tiffany Blue Nautilus commemorates the 170-year partnership between the brand and Tiffany, hence the 170 pieces. As a side note, I am not sure what makes 170 years more of a milestone than, say, 150 years or 200 years. I guess it is a nice enough round number that happens to be around the time the 5711 was discontinued (Patek Philippe was not waiting another 30 years to produce this limited collaboration).
Patek Philippe CEO Thierry Stern told CNBC “this was my little gift to say congratulations [to LVMH] on buying Tiffany. For me, it was quite clear I had to choose something unique and exceptional. This is really the last round for this watch.” While Stern previously said that the green dial Nautilus was the 5711’s “victory lap”, this will be victory lap for the victory lap, I guess?
Look, I love this new variation of the Nautilus, and definitely prefer it to the green dial variation (and not because it will inevitably command a large premium over even the green dial 5711). However, the question of which boutiques and which clients will get these pieces are sure to abound. Will those that bought green Nautiluses be allowed to also buy a Tiffany blue? Will the Tiffany blue affect the secondary market price of the green dial (probably not) and will this anger green dial owners? These are questions that will be answered in a short time.
All I know is that this is a great marketing stunt (I hate to say “stunt”) for Patek Philippe. Stern has let it be known that the brand will consign one of these Tiffany Blue 5711s to Phillips for auction. This will surely the set the secondary market for these pieces incredibly high, as it did for the auction of the green 5711 at over $400,000 USD including auction fees. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the auction price north of $800,000 or even $1,000,000 USD. Surely I will be following it almost as closely I followed the 2017 auction of Paul Newman’s Paul Newman Daytona.
How much is the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711/1A-018 with Tiffany blue dial and stamp?
The Tiffany blue Patek Philippe 5711 will be limited to 170 pieces and retail at a price of the $52,635 USD. Other differences besides the signature Tiffany Blue dial color include black gold applied markers and hands, a metallic framed date window and Tiffany & Co. stamped at 6 o’clock.