Only Watch 2017 – Patek Philippe 5208T (Unique Titanium, Minute Repeater, Chronograph, Perpetual Calendar Watch)
Only Watch 2017, the biennial charity auction, just unveiled its highly special pieces… and because we know that many of you will ask for it, here is the big one, the unique, titanium Patek Philippe 5208T, made for the 7th edition of Only Watch.
Following on from the Steel 5016A-010 Minute Repeater Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar made for the 2015 edition, a watch which became for a year, the highest priced wristwatch of all time (sold for CHF 7.3M, before Phillips Auctions and Aurel Bacs sold the steel Patek 1518 for over CHF 11M), Patek had no option but to return to this year’s event with heavy artillery… and they did.
For Only Watch 2017, the Geneva-based brand comes with no less than a real Grand Complication (the combination of a calendar, a timing device and a chiming mechanism), principally the Patek Philippe 5208T. Launched in 2011, the Reference 5208 Triple Complication showcases a minute repeater, a monopusher chronograph, and an instantaneous perpetual calendar displayed in apertures along an arc. It is also an automatic watch, with micro-rotor. The movement comprises 719 parts and is hand-finished throughout.
Compared to the standard platinum version (a watch that is produced in very limited numbers), the Patek Philippe 5208T for Only Watch 2017 differs in many ways. Firstly, not only is its 42mm case is made in titanium (the first and only version of this timepiece ever produced in this sporty metal), but it also boasts a distinctive blue dial, enlivened with a hand-guilloched carbon-fiber pattern at its center. Elsewhere, white and silver accents on the sub-dials, windows and hands give this watch a surprisingly sporty look, which works well with the titanium case – luminous paint on the the indexes and the hands add further individuality to this one-off model.
It’s not only the case and dial which are unique to the Patek Philippe 5208T for Only Watch 2017, as the back also presents a distinctive finish with the entire movement being plated with a black rhodium coat. The platinum micro-rotor is hand-guilloché with the same carbon-fiber decoration as the dial – we unfortunately don’t have images of the movement yet.
This Patek Philippe 5208T-010 once again certainly combines all of the right elements: an ultra-complex model, which is already extremely rare, but now cast in a unique and unusual material, with a sporty character, and a unique decoration of the movement… With a pre-sale estimation of CHF 900,000, that value is likely to seem rather modest compared to what it could actually realise at sale on 11 November 2017.
Only Watch is a biennial fundraiser for research on muscular dystrophy – Association Monégasque contre les Myopathies (AMM). Organized under the patronage of HSH Albert II de Monaco, the 7th edition gathers a record 48 participants. Only Watch 2017 will be auctioned by Christie’s in Geneva in November 2017. For more information, please visit www.onlywatch.com.
Technical Specifications – Patek Philippe 5208T-010 for Only Watch 2017
- Case: 42mm diameter x 15.11mm – titanium grade 5, polished – sapphire crystal on the front, Interchangeable full back and sapphire-crystal case back – Case is humidity and dust protected only (not water resistant).
- Movement: Caliber R CH 27 PS QI – Self-winding mechanical movement with micro-rotor – Minute repeater, Monopusher Chronograph, instantaneous perpetual calendar with day/night indication – unique black rhodium-plated decoration
- Dial: unique hand-guilloché “carbon-fiber” blue dial
- Strap: Blue Cordura strap with fold-over clasp
- Unique Piece – Reference 5208T-010