The Clapton Patek came in just above the mid-point estimate,
which is probably a slight disappointment to some but expected by others. The platinum J.B. Champion which carried the
same pre-auction estimate fetched just over $4 million ($4.012 million). Though the J.B. Champion Patek lacks the rock
musician cachet of Clapton’s 2499/100, it does have one distinguishing element
that very understandably justifies its higher value (among other reasons) — it
is a one-of-a-kind piece.
Rock legend Eric Clapton is selling one of the finest of his
watches, an ultra rare platinum-cased Patek Philippe (reference 2499/100P)
Perpetual Calendar Chronograph. Watch
fans — this is BIG, and let me tell you why:
aside from the obvious fact that the watch is from the private
collection of famous musician and Patek collector Eric Clapton, this Patek 2499
watch is one of only two ever made in platinum.
Not only is it one of only two ever made, but Clapton’s Patek Philippe
Ref. 2499 in platinum is the only one in private hands. This is quite possibly the holy grail of holy
grails for the world’s Patek collectors — and of course you are seeing it here
at Perpetuelle first.
That makes the sale of this watch on November 12, 2012, at
the Four Seasons hotel in Geneva
one of those rare moments of horological history in the making. This watch could fetch more than $4.25
million. I’ve got all the details,
including a look at the historical significance of this 2499, on the jump…
Spectacular is the first word which comes to mind to
describe the only platinum cased Patek Philippe reference 2499 made available to a collector. The official Christie’s estimate for
Clapton’s Patek is 2.5 million – 4.0 million Swiss francs, or about $2.6
million to $4.25 million at current exchange rates. A rose gold version of the same watch sold
at auction earlier this year for $2.8 million.
Manufactured in 1987 — Cal. 13”’ mechanical movement stamped
twice with the Geneva seal, 23 jewels, silvered matte dial, applied gold baton
and square numerals, gold dauphine hands, outer Arabic five minute divisions,
windows for day and month, three subsidiary dials for constant seconds, 30
minutes register and moon phases with date, circular case, stepped downturned
lugs, snap on back, platinum Patek Philippe buckle, case, dial and movement
signedProvenance aside, it goes without saying that this legendary model
displays the most perfect combination of design, functions, mechanical
complexity and case proportions.
Known fans as Slowhand, Clapton is a renowned watch
collector and once released a greatest hits album called Timepieces
The Significance of the Patek Philippe Ref 2499
Launched in 1951, the Patek Philippe Ref 2499 was in
production for nearly 35 years, during which a total of 349 watches were
made. It is, by the standards of many
Patek collectors, the quintessential reference from Patek Philippe. That only about 10 per year were made until
1986 is not particularly surprising, but when you consider that almost all of them were cased
in yellow gold, one starts to wonder about the rarer, non-yellow gold pieces
that were made. Some — but not many — of the Ref 2499′s were cased in rose
gold. Christie’s estimates the total number
or rose gold cases just 10, which seems about right as we also know that just
four of them have appeared at auction over the years — the last one of which sold
for a cool $2.7 million. No 2499′s
were ever cased in white gold, for reasons unknown.
In 1987, a year after official production had ceased, Patek’s Philippe Stern had two of
the remaining 2499 movements cased in platinum.
Fate would eventually bring one of these two platinum 2499′s into the hands of Eric
Clapton. But there was a road still to
be travelled.
You see, the only two examples of the Ref. 2499 ever cased
in platinum were most likely never intended for sale. Rather they were destined for the private
collection of Patek Philippe, to be put on display at its Geneva museum. Most likely, they were requested by Mr.
Philippe Stern for himself as the final and crowning edition to celebrate the
35 year long run of the firm’s so far most iconic complicated model ever made.
Exactly how or why Stern decided to sell one of the platinum
2499′s is not clear — but that is exactly what he
did just a couple of years later, consigning one of the watches to the historical “The
Art of Patek Philippe” auction,
held in Geneva on April 9, 1989. Fascinatingly,
the archives of Patek Philippe list the date of sale of the present watch as
April 7, 1989, the Friday prior to the auction which was held on a Sunday. Furthermore, the cataloguing and footnote at
the time clearly state that only two examples of this reference were ever made
in platinum and that the watch comes directly from Patek Philippe’s own museum.
And thus the first of only two platinum Patek 2499′s ever made went into the
hands of a prominent (though unknown) European Patek collector in April 1989
for a hefty SFr. 418,000. After again
changing hands during the latter half of the 1990s (to another of Europe’s most important private watch collectors), this
very same platinum Ref 2499 would eventually find its way into the hands of
rock star Eric Clapton. As for the the
“other” platinum Patek Ref 2499, well, it is still sitting, peacefully and out
of the limelight, in the Patek Philippe museum in Geneva.
Which brings us to today.
With a provenance as legendary and as well documented as it gets, THE
platinum Patek 2499 will go up for auction on November 12, 2012 in Geneva
Switzerland. Christie’s Aurel Bacs will
wield the hammer — this is sure to be one of the greatest moments in watch
collecting history.
THE HOLY GRAIL OF HOLY GRAILS FOR PATEK COLLECTORS
37.5mm platinum case, Ref. 2499/100, Movement No. 869’308,
Case NO. 2’817’876, Manufactured in 1987
OFFICIAL CHRISTIE’S LOT
NOTES FOR ERIC CLAPTON’S PLATINUM PATEK REF 2499 CAN BE SEEN HERE.
Now as I said above, Christie’s be will throwing down the
hammer on this watch on November 12, from the Four Seasons hotel in Geneva at an auction that
is expected to raise a total of over $16 million. Clapton’s Patek Philippe 2499 in platinum is
undoubtedly the most prized lot of the sale, though it must also be said that
two other historically important — and platinum cased — Patek Philippe watches
in the sale include a unique 30mm platinum wristwatch (ref. 2458), specially
made in 1952 for the collector J.B. and a platinum chronograph wristwatch with
rare facetted lugs (ref. 1579) manufactured in 1946. The platinum Patek ref. 2458 itself is
expected to fetch 2-4 million Swiss francs, a value similar to the Clapton
2499, the Ref 1579 1-1.5 million Swiss francs).
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