This $20 Million Patek Philippe Could Become the Most Expensive Vintage Wristwatch Ever Sold
Close BannerClose00Days:00Hours:00Minutes:00SecondsWatch LiveGQ Bowl in NOLAWatchesA Patek Philippe 1518 in steel just hit the market with a potentially record-setting price tag. Here’s why it’s worthy of that sum.By Cam WolfFebruary 7, 2025Save this storySaveSave this storySaveThis is an edition of the newsletter Box + Papers, Cam Wolf’s weekly deep dive into the world of watches. Sign up here.A new contender for the title of “most expensive vintage wristwatch ever sold” has entered the ring. Monaco Legend Group—an auction house based in, you guessed it, Monaco—announced on Tuesday that it’s putting a Patek Philippe 1518 in steel up for private sale. (It will, unfortunately, not come up for public auction.) The starting asking price is a jaw-dropping $20 million.The last time a steel Patek Philippe 1518 came to auction—at Phillip’s in 2016—it commanded 11,002,000 Swiss francs (roughly $12,144,000). A lot has transpired in the vintage watch market since then—including the 2017 sale of Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona, which hammered for $17.8 million and still holds the all-time record for most expensive vintage wristwatch.Just how desirable is this newly available 1518? “I’d rather have this [over the Newman] personally,” Adam Golden, the dealer behind Menta Watches, texted me about the Patek this week. There’s been plenty of talk about the Newman Daytona over the years, but I’ve never heard anyone essentially say, “No thanks.” That’s the caliber of watch we’re talking about today. “This is the Mount Everest of watch collecting,” said John Reardon, a foremost Patek authority who once worked for the brand and now deals its wares through Collectability.But what, exactly, makes this vintage Patek so special? What gives the 1518 enough juice to potentially wipe the Newman Daytona straight outta the record books? And will it actually sell for the $20 million listing price—or perhaps even more? I called up a few experts to find out.Making watch historyThe 1518 is Patek history. “The 1518 is the mother of all Patek collecting. It is the origin story of the brand in many ways,” said Justin Gruenberg, founder of the Los Angeles-based vintage shop The Keystone.No, actually, scratch that. This is watch history, period. “Owning a 1518 in steel means possessing not just a rare watch, but a piece of horological history,” said Alfredo Paramico, a collector and dealer who’s crossed paths with every known steel 1518 in existence. “These are seen as the pinnacle of vintage watch collecting.”The 1518’s historical importance is a result of Patek flexing its extraordinary watchmaking muscle. When the 1518 was birthed in 1941, it was the first wristwatch to ever combine a perpetual calendar and a chronograph. And it took a full 40 years for the rest of the industry to catch up, with Ebel and IWC introducing their own perpetual chronos in the 1980s.Visually, this watch represents everything that makes Patek so special. “It’s considered aesthetically the most Patek Philippe of Patek Philippe watches,” said Reardon. “It's just such a balanced dial, as true form follows function. And when people think of a complicated Patek Philippe, they think of this style layout.”A critically endangered species of watchPatek only ever made 281 of the 1518—a small number, sure, but not small enough on its own to convince a collector to fork over $20 million or more. The important distinction here is that this newly listed watch comes in steel. Of the 281 1518s, only four were made in the metal. “In steel, the watch is a holy grail, as nearly all of the 1518 production was in gold,” Gruenberg said.Wind Vintage founder Eric Wind told me that there are rumors of a fifth steel 1518 sitting somewhere in a private collection. Either way, it only requires one hand to count the number of this variation in existence.This is why the price of this watch defies logic. In a vacuum, gold is more valuable than steel, but when it comes to watch collecting, scarcity beats material in this case. Also, there’s something oddly sexy about this watch coming in steel. With the 1518, Patek set a new horological bar and rightly decided that fancy gold was the right material to house such an achievement. The steel 1518s, then, lean into the dichotomy of a prestigious, highly complicated movement encased by a laid-back material. It’s like seeing President Obama in a leather jacket versus a tuxedo. “A few years ago I would have told you that it’s by far the coolest watch ever made, the ultimate destination for any watch collector,” Paramico said. (That designation, he clarified, now has some competition thanks to the growth of the indie scene).There are some tangible benefits to steel, too. “I've only had the chance to hold a steel 1518 once in my life,” Reardon said. (Think about that! An expert in the field who’s worked at Christie’s and Patek itself has only come across this watch once!) “And the first thing that you notice is the lack of weight [compared to the gold versions
This is an edition of the newsletter Box + Papers, Cam Wolf’s weekly deep dive into the world of watches. Sign up here.
A new contender for the title of “most expensive vintage wristwatch ever sold” has entered the ring. Monaco Legend Group—an auction house based in, you guessed it, Monaco—announced on Tuesday that it’s putting a Patek Philippe 1518 in steel up for private sale. (It will, unfortunately, not come up for public auction.) The starting asking price is a jaw-dropping $20 million.
The last time a steel Patek Philippe 1518 came to auction—at Phillip’s in 2016—it commanded 11,002,000 Swiss francs (roughly $12,144,000). A lot has transpired in the vintage watch market since then—including the 2017 sale of Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona, which hammered for $17.8 million and still holds the all-time record for most expensive vintage wristwatch.
Just how desirable is this newly available 1518? “I’d rather have this [over the Newman] personally,” Adam Golden, the dealer behind Menta Watches, texted me about the Patek this week. There’s been plenty of talk about the Newman Daytona over the years, but I’ve never heard anyone essentially say, “No thanks.” That’s the caliber of watch we’re talking about today. “This is the Mount Everest of watch collecting,” said John Reardon, a foremost Patek authority who once worked for the brand and now deals its wares through Collectability.
But what, exactly, makes this vintage Patek so special? What gives the 1518 enough juice to potentially wipe the Newman Daytona straight outta the record books? And will it actually sell for the $20 million listing price—or perhaps even more? I called up a few experts to find out.
Making watch history
The 1518 is Patek history. “The 1518 is the mother of all Patek collecting. It is the origin story of the brand in many ways,” said Justin Gruenberg, founder of the Los Angeles-based vintage shop The Keystone.
No, actually, scratch that. This is watch history, period. “Owning a 1518 in steel means possessing not just a rare watch, but a piece of horological history,” said Alfredo Paramico, a collector and dealer who’s crossed paths with every known steel 1518 in existence. “These are seen as the pinnacle of vintage watch collecting.”
The 1518’s historical importance is a result of Patek flexing its extraordinary watchmaking muscle. When the 1518 was birthed in 1941, it was the first wristwatch to ever combine a perpetual calendar and a chronograph. And it took a full 40 years for the rest of the industry to catch up, with Ebel and IWC introducing their own perpetual chronos in the 1980s.
Visually, this watch represents everything that makes Patek so special. “It’s considered aesthetically the most Patek Philippe of Patek Philippe watches,” said Reardon. “It's just such a balanced dial, as true form follows function. And when people think of a complicated Patek Philippe, they think of this style layout.”
A critically endangered species of watch
Patek only ever made 281 of the 1518—a small number, sure, but not small enough on its own to convince a collector to fork over $20 million or more. The important distinction here is that this newly listed watch comes in steel. Of the 281 1518s, only four were made in the metal. “In steel, the watch is a holy grail, as nearly all of the 1518 production was in gold,” Gruenberg said.
Wind Vintage founder Eric Wind told me that there are rumors of a fifth steel 1518 sitting somewhere in a private collection. Either way, it only requires one hand to count the number of this variation in existence.
This is why the price of this watch defies logic. In a vacuum, gold is more valuable than steel, but when it comes to watch collecting, scarcity beats material in this case. Also, there’s something oddly sexy about this watch coming in steel. With the 1518, Patek set a new horological bar and rightly decided that fancy gold was the right material to house such an achievement. The steel 1518s, then, lean into the dichotomy of a prestigious, highly complicated movement encased by a laid-back material. It’s like seeing President Obama in a leather jacket versus a tuxedo. “A few years ago I would have told you that it’s by far the coolest watch ever made, the ultimate destination for any watch collector,” Paramico said. (That designation, he clarified, now has some competition thanks to the growth of the indie scene).
There are some tangible benefits to steel, too. “I've only had the chance to hold a steel 1518 once in my life,” Reardon said. (Think about that! An expert in the field who’s worked at Christie’s and Patek itself has only come across this watch once!) “And the first thing that you notice is the lack of weight [compared to the gold versions]. It's such a light watch—it's shocking to the senses.”
Where has this particular watch been?
Before landing at Monaco Legend, this 1518 went on a long and circuitous journey. For such a rare and valuable watch, there were quite a few people willing to part with it. For a certain stretch in the early ’80s, it sat unsold at a shop on 47th Street in New York City before a Swiss dealer bought it. Eventually, it came up for auction in 1989; the seller will be of note to fashion fans—it was Gerolamo Etro, the founder of the Italian luxury label Etro. From there, it was sold again in 1995 at Antiquorum and then made its way to Davide Parmegiani, co-chairman at Monaco Legend, in 2004. Parmegiani has had a hand in selling all four examples of the steel 1518, some of them more than once. “If there's anyone that can sell this watch again, it's Davide,” Reardon said. “He certainly knows the potential buyers.” Since 2004, the watch has changed hands twice, according to Hodinkee.
Still, the watch has mostly retained its good looks. “Like 99% of vintage Pateks, the dial shows some signs of cleaning and restoration,” Wind said, “but when you are talking about a watch this rare and legendary, it is certainly more than acceptable!” (For the record: “more than acceptable” is not the phrase I’d want to hear when considering a $20 million purchase—not that I ever foresee myself in that predicament.)
So, will it set the record?
If the 1518 does meet its asking price, then it will beat out Newman’s Daytona to become the most expensive vintage wristwatch ever sold. However, there are a couple important qualifiers in that title. The most expensive vintage watch—of the non-wrist variety—is a Patek Philippe Supercomplication pocketwatch made for Henry Graves, which sold in 2014 for $24 million. The most expensive watch ever sold, period, was a new Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime reference 6300A, which hammered for $31 million at the Only Watch auction in 2019.
The experts I spoke to were slightly skeptical that the watch would reach that $20 million mark. Paramico puts its value at $15 million. “With talk about a $20 million asking price, I’m not shocked and I won’t be surprised if I hear it sold,” Gruenberg said. “But, dang, that’s a lot of money.” The watch market is currently facing a downturn overall, but any prospective customers for this watch wouldn’t be the types affected by economic headwinds. The hobby has courted some new fantastically wealthy collectors since 2016. What is $20 million to someone like Mark Zuckerberg, who has shown a taste for high-complication Pateks?
It’s a bummer that we won’t get to see bidders duke it out for this piece at public auction. Parmegiani told Hodinkee that “watch auctions raise the bar until $5 million, $6 million, $8 million…but when you go over the $10 million mark, it is difficult." However, he added he’s already received quite a few emails from interested parties when the sale announcement went live Tuesday morning. Yawn!
Of course, those private emails between Parmegiani and prospective buyers put a dark cloud over much of the fun we could have had in an auction setting. It’s unlikely the ultimate buyer will want the final sale price out in the world, so this steel 1518 may well disappear for almost a decade again. Surely that will only help to balloon the offers for this piece of watch history.
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