Steel Patek Philippe 1518 Sells For $17.6 Million, Highest Ever For A Vintage Patek Wristwatch

Tonight in Geneva, a stainless-steel Patek Philippe Ref. 1518 (case number 508’473, movement 863’193, widely believed to be the very first steel 1518 ever made) sold at Phillips for CHF 12 million (CHF 14.2 million or $17.6 million USD), making it the most expensive vintage Patek Philippe wristwatch ever sold at auction. The sale took place during Phillips’ Geneva Watch Auction, held in association with Bacs & Russo, and marks a significant moment not only for Patek collecting, but for the broader watch market. The result failed to surpass the record for a vintage wristwatch, held by the Rolex Daytona ‘Paul Newman’ Ref. 6239, which sold for $17.8 million in 2017.

In The Room – The Path To $17.6 Million

The room was packed and tense with anticipation well before Lot 23 got underway, and in an unusual development, it was announced that there would be no online bidding for Lot 23, and the steel 1518. Only phone bidders and those in the room were able to compete. Even before auctioneer Aurel Bacs had finished his introduction for the watch, a bidder seated in the room started the ball rolling, shouting out an offer of CHF “8 million”! In all, five bidders competed for the prize, with three raising their paddles in the room and two on the phone. It took a full 10 minutes for the winner, a phone bidder with a bid of CHF 12 million, to claim the prize.

In the room was a who‘s who of dealers, collectors, enthusiasts, and watchmakers. They included Geneva-based watchmaker F.P. Journe, dealer and collector Davide Parmegiani, the only person who had previously handled and sold each of the four known examples, and Dr. Helmut Crott, a noted watch scholar, collector and former owner the reference. Previously sold by the same auction house in 2016, it’s an example of one of the most desirable and collectable watches in the history of, well, watches. Needless to say, most people in the room (and watching on the live stream) were there for the buzz.

TL;DR – The Patek Philippe 1518 In Steel

For those who understandably don’t follow auctions until there’s a new record, the Ref. 1518 is one of the most important references ever produced by Patek Philippe. Introduced in 1941, it was the world’s first serially produced perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch — a technical template that would underpin decades of high complication for the brand. Most 1518s were made in yellow or pink gold. Stainless steel examples were nearly unheard of at the time, and today only four are publicly known. This watch, case number 508’473 with a small “1” inside the caseback, is widely accepted as the first of the four. According to archive records, it was manufactured in 1943 and sold on February 22, 1944, in Budapest, Hungary. A steel perpetual calendar chronograph from Patek Philippe in the early 1940s is a paradox: the brand’s most elevated complication executed in its most utilitarian case metal. It is the sort of watch that shouldn’t exist — which is exactly why it’s so special to well-heeled collectors.

This was already a record-setting watch, but in 2016, the watch market was very different from what it is today, with even more attention paid to these sorts of watches over the past decade. Today’s result suggests the market for the rarest of vintage watches remains solid despite geopolitical upheaval from armed conflicts and shifts in trade and economic policy in the U.S. It’s also important to note that the Patek Philippe Henry Graves Jr. Supercomplication pocket watch sold for CHF 23,237,000 (approximately USD 24 million) at auction on 11 November 2014 in Geneva. 

Here is a breakdown of the previous top five auction results for wristwatches, which suggest a continued appeal of mid-century steel watches with strong provenance. Also, if you only looked at the list and didn’t read anything else, yes, today’s record-setting 1518 was previously #4 on the list from a sale in 2016. Go figure.

1. Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300A-010: Christie’s (Geneva) — Nov 9, 2019 — CHF 31,000,000 (~USD 31.2M)*
2. Rolex Daytona “Paul Newman” Ref. 6239: Phillips (New York) — Oct 26, 2017 — USD 17,752,500
3. Patek Philippe Ref. 6301A Only Watch – May 10, 2024, CHF 15,700,000  (USD 17.3)*
4. Patek Philippe Ref. 1518 (Stainless Steel): Phillips (Geneva) — Nov 12, 2016 — CHF 11,002,000 (~USD 11.1M)
5. Patek Philippe Ref. 1518 (Pink Gold, Prince Mohammed Tewfik):  Sotheby’s (New York) — Dec 9, 2021 — USD 9,570,900

*Sold at Only Watch for charity.

Want to dig way, way deeper into the steel 1518? Here is Ben’s 2016 In-Depth story covering all four known examples and what makes the reference (especially in steel) so appealing to collectors.