patekova
1836
The totally unpredictable Patek Philippe. Logically, I would have thought after decades of collecting Patek Philippe watches and studying
the company, I might have a clue as to what watches would be discontinued and what types of watches might be introduced. But frankly, I am clueless. Perhaps, whether purposely or not, oblique statements from the company can lead to certain conclusions that prove to be totally false. Also, often there are no hints or statements at all and seemingly out of nowhere a totally unexpected discontinuation or introduction appears. Also, more important keeps the competition guessing at what Patek is up to.
In a New York Times interview on October 18, 2022, the day the 5811/1G was introduced Thierry Stern, apparently referring to steel Nautiluses was quoted as saying “ We have made enough”. Ok, so why that very day was the previously discontinued steel 5990/1A gray dial replaced by one with a blue dial? I thought that reference was history.
In the same interview Thierry was quoted as saying “We’ll keep steel for sporty watches, mostly the Aquanaut.” And now we have heard that the supremely popular steel Aquanaut 5164A has been discontinued. Well maybe it will come back with a different dial or a slightly different case or maybe ….. I certainly would have zero confidence in any prediction I might make. Anyway, maybe it just was time to move on, simple as that.
One might think I am criticizing Patek for being unpredictable or for making statements that might lead us to conclusions that turn out to be incorrect. But I feel the opposite. Sometimes, one has to read between the lines to realize things might not turn out as expected. We had reason to believe the 5711/1A was done. But then along came the 5711/1A green dial. . Finally that seemed to be it. But no. Then came Tiffany 170th, but there were hints ….
I actually like their approach. It’s part of the fun and adventure, never knowing what’s next. It’s part of why we get so excited to find out what new watches will be introduced each March and why even though it might be a fool’s game we enjoy offering our predictions.
Ready to play the 2024 prediction game?
Best, Patekova
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Explore the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5990/1A: a detailed review of its travel time, chronograph, and wearability. Is this the ultimate sports Nautilus?
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The totally unpredictable Patek Philippe. Logically, I would have thought after decades of collecting Patek Philippe watches and studying
the company, I might have a clue as to what watches would be discontinued and what types of watches might be introduced. But frankly, I am clueless. Perhaps, whether purposely or not, oblique statements from the company can lead to certain conclusions tha...
+1. I stopped trying to predict Patek's discontinuation scheme a decade ago.
But I realize, they don't want too many of a single model to be out there. Even a simple Calatrava model such as the 5127, they don't want there to be ten thousand identical colored 5127s out there. So they probably set a limit both in units, time, or oth...
I don’t know or care about what’s new because I’m clueless but I know for sure….
You are happy with those two, bingo!!! Congrats 🎉
This may be the one (and only) time where you have lived up to your humorous, self effacing and totally inaccurate choice of name😊 And thank you. You
are certainly correct about how I feel about these 2 watches.
I personally think…
Patek will move all nautilus and aquanauts to precious metals and introduce a new steel line of watches with higher price points
I know they like to make 💰
If the 5164 is a money maker, they’ll discontinue it and one day make the 5164 v2 and call it the 5264. When 5711 was discontinued it was the most obvious thing in the world that a 5811 was coming down the pike. Panerai showed everyone the way how to make...
While I of course agree that they like to make money, I believe as pointed out above by Patrick, that they don’t want to produce too much of anything.
This could kill the golden goose. They are smart enough and have the financial wherewithal to not sacrifice long term goals and prestige for short term profit.
hmm, nice question you post
but maybe the target market for 5164A was saturated? Please note that I talk about the target market, so real collectors. PP can probably track more or less well who of their real collectors owns what models. So maybe they realized that all real collector...
Interesting story about your being offered a 5164A by your AD. My experience based on a limited sample is that watches are often discontinued before saturation.
Collectors are still on waiting lists when the watch they desire is discontinued. Adds to the Patek mystique.
My initial thoughts on hearing the news was that at least it wasn’t the 5167a that was discontinued.
I view the 5167 being on par with 5711 as original/base models. Then you have all the Nautilus variants as well as Aquanaut variants which come and go. I believe the discontinuation of the 5711 was a huge deal relative to any previous Nautilus variant dis...
Thanks for adding your perspective. While 5167A is a cornerstone watch in the collection, I am confident it will be discontinued at some point.
When that happens the question will be, will there be a time only steel Aquanaut successor. I think there will be. Thierry has indicated steel watches will still be made in the Aquanaut line and a steel time only Aquanaut can bring in new young collectors...
They will discontinue the 5167 line ..
As they created the white gold 5168 and other complications in Aquanaut in precious metals . The only Patek steel chronograph is the aquanaut avbl and no other exists in production . Next in line will be the aquanaut chronograph and probably 5167 for sure...
So much for attracting “new” young collectors.
I understand it is already a self selective group, and that there is easily a whole new generation of young billionaires. Still, if you aren’t an established client, then I don’t see PP providing preferential access to new collectors. Anyway, it will be a...
You make excellent points. Certainly "theoretically" it is important to spread the clientele base by adding young and new (of any age) collectors.
Then there is what happens in practice when the supply, especially of the most desired pieces, is so outstripped by demand.
I was at the Patek Salon..
Steam seems to be coming off .. sales have slowed down as per salon and lesser enquiries on the steel sports as people have given up .
Very interesting thoughts... and I agree overall
Difficult to predict anything. I see the transition from steel Aquanauts and Nautiluses to precious metals as a way to increase the retail price quickly, in order for Patek to take advantage of the premiums that the secondary market has made visible. In a...
I expect the 5164 series to be replaced by...
a 5165 or some ilk, where the dual-time control is on the crown, as was the case with the 5269/200R-001, which Patek just retired. -Dean