Patek Philippe Tiffany and Co. Nautilus Sells at Record Breaking Auction Price

We’ve recently seen the release of a left-field model of the Patek Philippe Nautilus last week, followed shortly by a puzzling announcement that the first will be auctioned through Phillips Auction house on December 11th. Everyone knew it would be a record breaking auction, but now that it’s over, wow what a number. $5,350,000. A truly staggering number.

Craig and I recently discussed our thoughts on the release, and shared some talking points on our partner Podcast. One of the big take-aways we both had was that this is fairly unprecedented territory for major watch auctions. Typically, when we see these high numbers the watch has some historical significance, or belonged to someone of note (Paul Newman anyone?). In the case of the Patek Philippe x Tiffany & Co, it’s simply a limited edition, albeit a super limited edition timepiece.

This got us wondering if this is something we will see more of in the future. This did kind of, overall, feel like a test of the waters of major brands working closely with auction houses to… I guess… see where it goes? While a Tiffany stamped Nautilus is kind of the Holy Grail of collectors pieces on a major watch space auction, are we looking at a possibility of these high value auctions taking place more frequently with major brands ultra-limited releases? Overall it seems more than plausible.

Realistically, I think we both agree here - this is going to become more common. Maybe not to this extent, but more common. While Phillips and Patek working closely together on this is more or less rumor, it’s hard to think this didn’t come together without each other cooperation.

is it necessarily a bad thing? Let us know. Personally, I think it creates an even more cynical outlook on the industry as a whole. And that’s a little sad to me, though, in an industry that’s growing more and more jaded towards this kind of… I guess I’ll say it… Pandering - I suppose it’s not a surprise to anyone really involved. A $52,000 Nautilus selling for $5,350,000 a week after its released is moving towards uncharted territory in sales territory. And realistically the watch is going to be closer to $6.5m with fees.

Either way, I suppose it’s feeling like the new normal. Let us know your thoughts below. We’d love to here whether this is something you look forward to in the future, or are you ready for the hype train to die?