FabR[Senior Patek Moderator]
26166
I might know more after talking to some people next week, but my clear understanding is the 5088 has been an application piece since 2015, i.e., at some point in the process you need to be approved by Patek in order to be allocated one.
Jun 07, 2021,22:59 PM
So I'm assuming this was the case for you as well, in the sense that even if your AD already has it in the shop, in case you decide not to purchase it, either they need to get another customer approved by Patek or they will simply send the watch back ;-)
I have seen this happen also for a few other rare handcrafts, so in principle it's no reason of concern. However, the most common occurrence is definitely for Patek to deliver a rare handcraft only *after* a specific customer has been approved.
What I'm not sure about yet are the production numbers, but this is not uncommon with Patek. Note that the watch has entered the rare handcraft catalog as a limited edition in 2015, and therefore it's not unreasonable to expect that it be discontinued soon (6 years are quite a lot for a limited edition ;-)
Cheers.