Patek Philippe has been around since 1839, making them one of the most venerated watchmakers in Switzerland. They are so prestigious that they have designed watches for royalty like Queen Victoria and Princess Diana. Pope Pius XI, Albert Einstein, John F. Kennedy, and Pablo Picasso have all custom-ordered watches from Patek Philippe.
We compiled the priciest Patek Philippe watches around, including those that recently sold as well as some that you can still buy. Here’s our list of the 8 most expensive Patek Philippe watches.
8. Signed Patek Philippe, Geneve, ref. 1526
Material: Stainless steel
Year: 1949
photo source: Christie’s
This watch, which is only listed as a Signed Patek Philippe, Geneve, ref. 1526, is a unique stainless-steel variation of their popular 40s-50s series wrist watch. This example was manufactured in 1949 and features a perpetual calendar complete with moon phases, magnetic balance, and painted Arabic numerals.
The watch contains 18 jewels, Feuille hands painted black, and a silver-matted dial. The watch was originally commissioned by Briggs Swift Cunningham II, born in 1907. He was an American sportsman and millionaire, as well as a motor racer and manufacturer.
His Patek Phillippe watch sold at a Christie’s auction in May 2008 for $4,132,302.85.
Did you know?
Cunningham was the first American to seriously rival European dominance in the 24 Hours at Le Mans race in France. He raced his custom-built Cunningham C-4R, hand-hammered from aluminum with Chrysler engine parts.
The Cunningham racer is known as the first sports car in America, meaning this watch’s value intersects with both watch lovers and racing enthusiasts.
7. Signed Henry Graves Jr. Wristwatch
Material: 18k Gold
Year: 1895-1927
photo source: Christie’s
This Signed Henry Graves Jr. Wristwatch is one of the most expensive you can buy. It’s the wristwatch version of a pocket watch that will appear later this list, which was the most complicated watch in the world for a while.
This tribute to it sold in 2019 at a Christie’s auction for the CHF equivalent of over $4.6 million.
This watch is one of 39 that Henry Graves commissioned from Patek Phillipe between 1922 and 1951. It has a case of solid 18k gold, completely hand-made, with an almost 4cm long face, which was huge for the day. Back then, men’s wristwatches were small, similar to a woman’s watch today.
Did you know?
To put this watch in perspective, which had a dial made in the 1800s but was not finished with all its complications until 1927, it was among the most advanced timepiece in the world when it was finished. Pocket watches were only a couple of decades old at that time, so the idea that they would have multiple complications, including a minute repeater, was unheard of.
6. Patek Philippe Reference 2499 2nd Series
Material: Pink Gold
Year: 1957
photo source: Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s listed this Patek Philippe Reference 2499 2nd Series as “possibly unique,” meaning so few of them are known, it’s unknown whether it’s a one-of-a-kind creation. The watch was originally sold through Gobbi Milano in 1957.
The watch has a pink gold case with several visible complications, including moon phases, a chronograph, and a seconds dial. The strap is made from brown calfskin. It was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in 2018 for $7,677,019.74.
It had previously been sold at a Christie’s auction in Geneva, Switzerland in May 2007.
Did you know?
That 2007 Christie’s auction was titled “Important Pocketwatches and Wristwatches” and took in a comparatively small amount: $5.3819 million in total. Many of the watches sold there were classic stainless-steel Rolexes (some sculpted from white gold). They also sold some significant platinum pocketwatches by Patek Philippe.
5. Grand Complications Sky Moon Tourbillon
Material: 18k White Gold
Year: 2016
photo source: First Class Timepieces
The Grand Complications Sky Moon Tourbillon wristwatch was made in 2016. Its dial is made from 18k white gold while its dial is made from luxurious black enamel, with hands made from more white gold. It’s an analog watch with 55 embedded jewels and a 48-hour power reserve.
It features a perpetual calendar, moon phases, sidereal time, a sky chart, and other complications. The case back is made from sapphire crystal.
The bracelet is made from high-quality alligator skin. The watch is not water-resistant, though it comes with a 2-year warranty and is currently for sale online for $8,487,500.
Did you know?
White gold is not natural. It’s a man-made gold alloy made from mixing pure yellow gold with alloy metals like silver or palladium. The result has a stylish white-silver sheen.
4. L’Heure Bleue
Material: Pink Gold
Year: 1953
photo source: Christie’s
The watch known as L’Heure Bleue has a case made from 18k pink gold and a two-crown world time setup with multiple dials, including a 24-hour indicator. The inner dial is double-signed blue enamel. The watch originally retailed at Gobbi in Milan back in 1953, making it one of the oldest valuable Patek Philippe watches.
The watch contains 18 jewels in total, a micrometer regulator, and the Geneva seal (twice). It has time indicators for Arabic time as well as local time in 40 cities around the world.
This watch sold at a Christie’s auction in November 2019 for over $8.9 million, making it among the most expensive Patek Philippe watches ever sold.
Did you know?
The Geneva Seal is the official stamp of the City, the capital of Switzerland as well as the capital of watchmaking in the world. It’s a seal of quality defined by national law, so having two Geneva stamps means the L’Heure Bleue isn’t messing around.
3. 175th Commemorative Collection Grandmaster Chime
Material: Rose Gold
Year: 2014
photo source: A Blog to Watch
The 175th Commemorative Collection Grandmaster Chime was released in 2014 for Patek Philippe’s anniversary. It is a wristwatch inspired by an infamously expensive Patek Philippe pocket watch known as the Henry Graves Supercomplication (more on that below).
This new watch has 20 complications and was developed for eight years for the brand’s birthday. The case is made from 18k rose gold, heavily engraved, containing 214 individual parts.
The watch debuted with six examples for paying clients and one for preservation at the Patek Philippe Museum originally priced at $2.6 million.
One of these examples later sold at an auction for $20.509 million after the watch became famous.
Did you know?
The Patek Philippe Museum was founded by Philippe Stern, president of the Geneva manufacturer, to bring 500+ years of watchmaking history to the public eye. The museum’s specialties include the history and modern applications of enameling, guilloche, gem-setting, engraving, and everything else involved in luxury watchmaking.
2. Henry Graves Supercomplication
Material: Gold
Year: 1932
photo source: History of Information
A Sotheby’s auction sold this Supercomplication Patek Philippe watch in 2014 for $23.268 million. At the time, this was the most ever paid for a timepiece, beating the record set by the same watch at another auction years earlier in a 1999 auction (it sold for $11 million).
For many years, this was the most complicated watch in the world, with 24 different functions or “complications,” a record that wasn’t beaten until 1989 (again by Philippe).
The watch took 7 years to build from 1925 to 1932 and was commissioned by Henry Graves Jr., who wanted the most complex watch in the world.
Did you know?
At the 1999 auction, the watch was bought by a member of the Qatari royal family, Sheikh Saud Bin Mohammed Bin Ali Al-Thani. Sotheby’s convinced them to resell it in 2014 for the brand’s 175th anniversary, predicting they could beat their previous record, which they did after a 15-minute bidding war sent the sale price soaring over the estimate.
1. The Grandmaster Chime 6300A-010
Material: Stainless-steel
Year: 2019
photo source: Christie’s
The most expensive Patek Philippe watch is The Grandmaster Chime 6300A-010. This extremely rare watch was created in 2019 specifically for Only Watch. It is the only version of Patek Philippe’s venerated Grandmaster Chime series that was done in stainless steel.
The dial plates are made from 18k solid gold with rose gold on the time side. The Breguet numerals on the face are hand-guilloched from more gold while the calendar side of the watch is done in black ebony. The bracelet is genuine alligator leather, hand-stitched.
To own this one-of-a-kind stainless-steel watch, a bidder paid the Swiss Francs equivalent of $31,199,175 at a Christie’s auction in 2019.
Did you know?
Guilloche is a tried-and-true technique for crafting luxury watches, dating back to the middle ages. Back then, it was used more often for decorative wood or other soft sculpting materials. Starting in the late 1700s, the guilloche technique was introduced to the world of wristwatches.
The technique involves using cranks attached to tools to rotate the dial to the right orientation and then using a press to engrave the dial at different depths with the intended designs.
