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6h ago

Rare Steel Patek Philippe 1518 Fetches CHF 14.2 Million at Phillips Geneva Sale

The 1943 perpetual calendar chronograph is one of four known in stainless steel, a rarity that has made it a collector touchstone.

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The Patek Philippe watch is the first of only four of its kind known to have been made in stainless steel
The Phillips auction house called it a timepiece "of almost mythical status"

Overview

  • Phillips sold the stainless-steel Patek Philippe Reference 1518 for CHF 14,190,000 ($17.6 million) after a competitive, roughly nine-and-a-half-minute contest among five bidders.
  • Bidding opened at CHF 8 million and concluded at a CHF 12 million hammer, with fees bringing the total to CHF 14.2 million, and the watch went to a telephone bidder.
  • The price surpasses the CHF 11 million the same watch achieved in 2016, establishing a new benchmark for a vintage Patek Philippe wristwatch.
  • Reference 1518 debuted in 1941 as the first serially produced perpetual calendar chronograph; this example was produced in 1943 and delivered to a client in Budapest in 1944.
  • Phillips reported a record two-day total of CHF 66.8 million across 207 lots with 1,886 registered bidders from 72 countries, the highest total recorded for a watch auction.