Patek Philippe

(please insert 4 letter word of your choice) to get a 5131?

For those fortunate owners of the highly coveted and desirable cloisonné world timers, would you be willing to share you stories of trial, tribulation and/or sheer luck with fellow salavaters like myself?

Since October 2010, I have purchased 4 PP's (3 for myself and one for my wife), 2 from the same AD, 1 from an AD outside of my home city, and one from a secondary market dealer. All watches are registered in my name and I have never traded or sold any. What does it take to get on the list?

I was wondering for those 5131 owners, how many PP's did you own when your AD would finally make a request for you?

My sense is that I should try and focus buying from the biggest throughput Patek AD, as they should have the biggest pull with respect to 5131 allotments. Or else just pay the secondary market price and not subject myself to the gamesmanship of the AD's.

Thank you all very kindly for any responses.

Jmah

You just need luck.

And if you don't have luck, and if you really want one, sadly, the secondary market is " for " you.

I have been told that well, one can always dream, so I trust them.

Best,

Nicolas

This message has been edited by amanico on 2013-01-29 22:35:48

And thanks for the response Nicolas.

Luck, I have plenty of, but patience is what I lack

your AD and PP , but it will on the pre-owned market and I suspect alot got theirs from there having little or no luck at all. You're not alone!

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I sincerely appreciate your comments and story Kari.  The AD I deal with locally told me that they've only ever gotten one, for someone that spent 7 figures on PP's only.  For what it's worth, in 2.5 years of collecting, I'm a quarter of the way there with 4 PP's.  I guess the business brain in me says... "Why spend 7 figures, to get a potential 10% discount ($100K spread) over the secondary market and have to subject myself to "the game".

Money doesn't mean everything, that's for sure.  I've been very lucky with several of the other pieces in the entirety of my collection, especially with the prices I received from AD's on these items, before the explosiveness of the Chinese market has and continues to drive up prices across the board.

Deep down, I must not want the 5131 badly enough, or I would have found/forced a way for it to have happened already. 

Thank you kindly for your comments Kari,

Jmah

I really like your thoughts on that topic.

Oliver

A good friend of mine offered me a 5131, but in colored gold, at the retail.

I passed because I wanted a white gold one, and I told him to offer it to a guy who woukld appreciate it, not to a flipper.

That is what he did.

Like you, there are still some gentlemen on Earth.

Best,

Nicolas

doesn´t help for sure. Already four watches from PP!? In the world of PP you can´t impress anybody with money only. There will be always some people with more, much more.

As others mentioned, luck is a strong part to get one. Staying power and a trustfull relationship with a first choice AD should be important as well.

Good luck, maybe one day you will find yours!

Oliver

Just out of curiosity when did I curse?  I felt a bit of lightning rod with putting out 4 PP's in my previous post, which in my honest opinion is a miniscule number in the world of PP collectors.  My hubris thought in mentioning the timeframe and total number of PP's purchased was instigated by simple reciprocation and reference.  If I don't give additional or fullsome disclosure, how or why should I expect any responses?  As well, how many does one need to buy in order to qualify?

I constantly remind myself that many people on Watchprosite, dream of getting one Patek in their whole life and despite having purchased 4, am fortunate to preserve the genuine sense of blessing it is to even own one.  While I have a larger collection of watches, I have only posted one picture to date and am very reluctant to post anymore.

I certainly did not grow up wealthy and make no apologies for the hard work I put in to feed my watch addiction, but fortuantely I can still realize that many people are starving, or cannot look at their two hands and use a complete set of digits to count to 10.  I appreciate the art, craftsmanship, tradition and values of PP, but do not fit into the desired characteristic of clientele.

I am disappointed with my ego for feeling the need / itch to make this final post and feel very stupid to even further respond as it confirms the fears I had the moment before making the initial topic's post:

"Another crybaby who wishes he/she had a 5131 and thinks because he/she has a couple of bucks and bought more than one that they're special and should be entitled to one too, now they're trying to find a short cut to get one!  How pathetic!".       

My true intention was to hear of some of the glorious stories and momentus occassions surrounding one's journey to acheive such an important piece, with a bit of satire. 

In no way shape or form would I even come close to the top 35% of wealth for those on the Fourms.  Probably not in the top 60% on the Patek Fourm. 

Oliver, I sincerely appreciate your response as you took the time to conveny your genuine thoughts.

For all the individauls that sent me private messages, I am even more genuinely grateful for your comments, stories, suggestions and support.

Jmah

This message has been edited by jmah on 2013-01-31 18:37:25

which shows me that I had the wrong (first) impression about your initial post. Sorry about that!

Especially when it comes to the 5131 it gets boring/annoying recently - not because of the watch. It was introduced already in 2008, but since it became "hot" in the second market there is much more attention. Quite often it comes from people who know all about the prices and less about the values behind those kind of watches. It is not me who is allowed to judge, but I am always very happy if I see the "right" person got the matching watch for him.

When it comes to PuristS it is all about sharing - passion, opinion and information. I am looking forward to your further contributions as a part of our community, if you feel comfortable.

Oliver

I learned from a private message and your last post, the reason for reluctant contributors. 

It also reconfirmed the reason why after 2 years of collecting, my first post only happend last December. 

Public posts and continued wrist shots, in the worst sense, equates to public masturbation.

I fell into the newbie trap.

may I ask what kind of Patek you purchased?  reason I ask because I purchased a Celestial, a 2 gran complication and couple of Nautilus from the same AD and I still can not get him to commit a 5131 for me.........so, you don't need to feel too bad.

My 4 are: 5726A, 5712gr, 7008A and a supposedly only 20 in the world (10 white gold and 10 rose) 5130g with the Canadian cities Calgary and Vancouver on the dial, in the normal place of Los Angeles and Denver.

jamh, you are correct. There were 10 white gold and 10 rose gold issued.

 

 

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 Thankls for the welcome. I have been following for a long time.

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My AD said don't hold my breath! I still hold out hope and not losing faith completely. So--get on the list and wait it out patiently and as my AD said...don't hold your breath. Lol

My local AD put me on the list for a 5270 and definitely made me feel "indebted" for doing it, but would not write a request for a 5131.

The so called application was filled up on my behalf by my local AD about a year ago; they still don't know whether I will be approved to receive the 5131. Also, they told me that once approved, I should expect a waiting time of 2 years or so.
According to my AD (who happens to be a fairly large volume Patek dealer), they have received only 3 of the 5131 pieces in the last 5 to 6 years (2 yellow and 1 white); so on an average its about a 18 to 24 month lag time. Other dealers in US and European, middle east, far east dealers may have different time frames  involved.
On the flip side of argument, a quick search of the *bay auction site reveals 4 such pieces readily available (3 in yellow and 1 in white), albeit at prices ranging from 130k to 160k.
Lastly, what I fail to understand is how on earth these secondary market dealers have been able to get hold of these pieces???? interestingly enough, my request to one of these after market dealer to see a scan of the certificate met with a resounding refusal citing "confidentiality". The main reason I bring up the latter issue is due to the fact this an "application piece"; and every such piece by definition is allocated to an individual whose name should be on the certificate.
I will only buy this piece at retail price if and when I can get one otherwise its not for me ))
Thanks

Although the 5131 is an application timepiece, if several collectors apply for the watch at their local AD and the AD finally gets the allocation, the AD has the final say as to which collector gets the watch.  It is no longer Patek who decides to get the watch and send the watch to the AD, but now the local AD has more say in this matter.  I hear this is a recent change in the distribution of the 5131.

So it might even get more difficult....
I am sure the AD has a lot of clients to choose from, who will get it ? The client who bougt the most expensive pieces ?

About a year or 2 ago I was in the patek salon in geneva and asked a bit more info about the 5131
They told me they did not take any more orders.
Reason, they stopped when the list had 100 persons on it.

Now I do not know how many pièces a salon gets, for sure more than any AD , lets even presume they get 5 per year.
Most AD probably don'get 1 in 5 years.
But even at 5 per year...... this means they decided to stop taking orders because the time for delivery was over 20 years !!!!!

And besides, how long will this stay in production? I would not be surprised if they discontinue it within a few years

... if you have to promise you won't re-sale the piece it's certain you won't get one ... and swearing won't help.

 

 

I'm reading some posts that really disappointed me. Patek must understand his strength is the passion of the real collectors, this behaviour with no production number per year, strange criteria to get  in the list is what force the people to move away. I've seen a gold 5131 many years ago from my dealer ( not AD) who sold it to a football player....sometimes i think PP has turned into the wrong way, increasing the production, especially the Nautilus' line, put too many attention to the sporty watch  to detriment the classic and complicated watches. 

The customer's chance is tied to the sales volume of the AD. However, a high volume AD also has a large clientele list to choose from when the time comes with an allocation. Therefore, it's good to be known by PP and your AD as a true PP collector.  The rest is luck...

be offended, why, out of all that Patek offers, is it this piece you want?

And I agree, if you want something it is frustrating if you can't get it but every greymarket dealer seems to have one.

But in fact..... most don't have these pieces.

It did the test and mailed a few greymarket dealers. I did not have the intention to buy but they did not know lol.
Anyway, it was amazing to discover that most didn't have one in stock.
They answered things like " we don't have one right now but if you are really interested we can get one for you " ...... and than they gave me the most insane price.
Something like the streetprice plus another 10%.

Well, if somebody wants to pay me 120k I can deliver one too.
Buying ona at 110k is no problem.....