I have been collecting Patek Limoges trays for a decade and finally completed the series, each plate from 1997-2019! Am working on article about these unique commemorative artist pieces.  I reached out to Patek who were quite polite but really could not tell me much. 

Anyone know the back-story and/or the operations behind them?

Much appreciated!

Wow, thanks for all of the kind words, what a friendly group! Collecting these trays has been a lot of fun and I keep them all right outside my home office, where they inspire daily. One of you asked for some stories -- so please pardon the length of this post but I thought I would oblige.  

The hardest one to find was for 1998 (see photo of tray with floral design)  Not sure why, but it took years and I finally found one in Germany sold by an antique dealer, and used a translator to negotiate the transaction. I paid up front via PayPal and had no idea if the guy would come through, but to my surprise the tray arrived on my doorstep perfectly packaged/wrapped a few weeks after I sent the cash. 

The most valuable one is tough to determine -- because some are so difficult to locate (one or two pop up on eBay every month or so and occasionally a group of them will show up at Christies, Sothenys or the Antiquorum). I believe the one that cost the most for was the small bowel/cover from 2000 (see photo) -- that one garnered a  lot of excitement at the time. My wife knew I wanted it but was too cheap to pay the outrageous perceived premium and gave it to me for Father's Day one year -- as I recall, she found it on eBay somehow and wildly overpaid -- but I am glad she did.  

The treys are arranged in chronological order staring at the top. My favorites are the two most recent at the end -- (The most recent is the one with the continents and the one before that with the dogs.) The back of each trey has a narrative explaining the design's inspiration, derivation, etc. -- each is a very special piece of art (at least to me).

Once I acquired them all, I asked the uncle of a friend, who is a carpenter, to build something for their display and he built the marvelous display shelf, which in and of itself, is extraordinarily solid and very beautiful -- all cherry wood and meticulously crafted specifically for the trays. 

As for the value of the collection  -- it is challenging to put a value on the entire group but alas, the hunt is over, and you all know how that goes. Along those lines, if anyone has a modern Patek in good condition (40mm or higher), I am ready to move on to my next project, and would consider a trade for all 26 treys (not interested in a cash sale).  It would probably have to be for pick up though (I live in Bethesda, Maryland). I guess I could ship them, but I would hate to have any sort of mishap in shipping. It is not a collection that is easily appraised or replaceable. I am also loathe to make a trade with any sort of seller -- only to fellow collector.

Thanks again for all of the nice posts --  most people see the collection and don't really know what to make of it -- but this group obviously understands  and appreciates their significance, which is so nice. I only wish I knew more about them so I could write an article -- I used to write for a watch magazine and would love more information. All I know is that dealers receive them occasionally and pass them along to special buyers. What is so shocking is that I have asked dozens of Patek sales people over the years about them and no one seems to know or really care too much about them.  For instance, the so-called Patek "boutique" in Beverly Hills has one or two on display but when I asked about the ones they had on display, the sales people had no idea what they were about or their history.  When I spoke with Patek, they were extremely complimentary and gracious but also very secretive about their process (what a surprise!) 

 Anyway, thanks again everyone! And please post any other questions you may have -- this forum is a wonderful escape. -- John