Patek Philippe

Baron - Mr Red
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Aussie, i think its confusing to a lot of people

One of the reasons that PP attained the status that it did (and also why it could charge the prices that it did) was that it produced a very small quantity of watches of extraordinary quality. That was maybe 30 or more years ago. It continued with this principle through the decades, but as it became more and more successful, the volumes of watches it produced did rise. For a grand complication like the 5970P, one would hope that the volume of pieces produced was not high. Yet, story after story shows examples of where it is seemingly readily available. A friend of mine who is an AD in London was given an allocation of 6 5970Ps. Earlier this year, he told me that PP had offered him another 6. So, 12 5970Ps in one relatively small dealership in one country. To my mind, Aussie, you are right to be confused because production of 200-250 seems awfully small when you look at the corresponding anecdotes.

I don't go for the "economic climate" argument at all. Another friend of mine who is a professional dealer says the watch market is flying. Prices are up firmly from this time last year. Global economics tell us we are out of the recession and growth is back, albeit sluggish. If there was ever a time when there would be distressed selling of watches it is not now. We see record prices for Modigliani and Picasso, and the art world is indeed on a rip. "Economic climate" just does not seem a good explanation for the seeming volume of sales of 5970Ps.

Aussie, i am confused too.

As Nico said, this question about the watch is not the most interesting. Its horological merits are indeed more interesting than the supply/demand situation. However, your implied question is interesting insofar as it does beg another very interesting question. Lange. JLC. Vacheron. They are all producing some stunning grand complications. And they are also producing them in very limited and stated numbers. Yet, Patek still manages to charge an enormous premium to these other makes. Now, if that premium is about the pure quality of the Patek workmanship then of course that is a different matter. But I am quite sure that many would suspect that the margin of quality has narrowed dramatically in recent years. So, if the price premium is not so much about quality of engineering, finish, movement etc, then it must be about rarity. And on this issue, PP keeps very very quiet. It does not reveal the number of watches that it makes.

I wouldn't either. If i saw a JLC grand complication that was limited in production to say 200 but was selling for 30% of the price of a PP grand complication of production 200, I would not want to disclose my numbers either....if i was PP. Rarity comes at a price. But at that price one should indeed get rarity.

The volume of such rare pieces that appear for sale does not tally with such supposed rarity. Yep...I am confused too.