Our first live auction of 2024, the PHILLIPS Geneva Watch Auction: XIX, takes place on May 11 and 12, at the Hotel President, at Quai Wilson 47 in central Geneva. The auction includes more than 215 of the world's finest watches – and though we are loath to boast, we truly think it's one of the best catalogs we've ever put together. We'll be highlighting a number of the most interesting lots and stories featured in the sale over the next month, including two of the Patek Philippe models highlighted below (here and here).
– By Logan Baker
With over 400 exceptional timepieces on view, the 2015 Patek Philippe Watch Art Grand Exhibition held at London's Saatchi Gallery was the largest overseas Patek Philippe exhibition ever held at the time. Open to the public, the event attracted more than 42,500 visitors over the course of 12 days.
To celebrate the momentous occasion, Patek Philippe – for the very first time in its long history – made the decision to revive and then publicly reveal an assorted selection of beloved watches that had been previously discontinued, updating them with exclusive aesthetics and dial designs. Such watches were extremely limited in number and were only offered to Patek Philippe's most trusted and exclusive clientele.
Today, pieces from this tremendous exhibition – known as the Saatchi Edition models, or sometimes as the "London Collection – are widely considered to be trophy pieces due to their rarity and the contemporary significance they have at Patek Philippe.
However, there are still a number of mysteries surrounding the colllection. For example, we still don't know, almost a decade after the fact, how many examples of certain references were produced. We did receive a bit of additional information later on, after the leak of a price list for watches presented at the London Grand Exhibition. You can view that price list here.
We're not going to cover every single watch included on the leaked document; instead, we'll focus on most of the pieces at the top of the list included under the "Napoleon Room" section. The watches in this section are what are most frequently discussed and thought of when the topic of Patek Philippe's Saatchi Edition watches comes up.
The Patek Philippe Chronograph Ref. 5070
To commemorate the 2015 Patek Philippe Grand Exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London, Patek Philippe produced a range of special watches in highly limited runs. Surprisingly, this included four new versions of the ref. 5070 chronograph, five years after the reference was "officially" discontinued and replaced by the next-gen ref. 5170 chronograph. Patek Philippe communicated that this choice was the result of a surplus of unused cases from the reference's production years, as well as the discovery of a set of new-old-stock Lemania calibers.
Each of these four references is believed to have been limited to five examples each. The different models included a platinum version with a blue dial that's a touch lighter than the production 5070P (ref. 5070P-013), an 18k yellow gold version with a sunburst brown dial (ref. 5070J-012), a white-gold version with a salmon dial (ref. 5070G-014), and a rose gold version with a sunburst brown dial (ref. 5070R-014).
The dials of all four of these Saatchi Edition 5070 examples were also slightly tweaked compared to the original models, including an updated font for the “Patek Philippe Geneve” logo, slimmer numerals on the running seconds display, and adjusted designs for all uses of “1”, “7”, and “4” on the dial. These watches were never officially publicized or exhibited by Patek Philippe, and images are hard to come by, but luckily you can view a few excellent photos of the ref. 5070J-013 in this article by our friends at Quill & Pad.
Interestingly enough, similar to the 5071G mentioned above, Jay-Z was also recently spotted wearing a salmon-dial 5070G in late May 2023 while attending the Paris concert of his wife Beyonce's Renaissance World Tour. It's not known whether Jay-Z's salmon-dial 5070G is one of the few Saatchi Gallery examples, or if he was able to acquire one of the even rarer pre-Saatchi versions with papers dated to 2014.
The upcoming Phillips Geneva Watch Auction: XIX includes a lovely full-set example of the 5070G-014 in 18k white gold with a salmon dial. It's lot 179 in the catalog, carrying an estimate of CHF 250,000 - 500,000.
Although all Saatchi models are extremely rare, it does appear that the 5070 examples have turned up for sale on a more frequent basis than other Saatchi pieces. Based on my research, the current breakdown of sold examples is:
5070J-012: Three publicly sold (two at auction; one via an online dealer)
5070P-013: One example publicly sold via an online dealer
5070G-014: None (First example to appear at Phillips Geneva in May 2024.)
5070R-014: Three have appeared at auction (two sold; one passed)
The above breakdown does not include the unusual early-dated 5070G, of which Phillips Geneva sold an example for CHF 852,800, in November 2022, nor does it include the ref. 5070G-014 that will be sold during the upcoming Phillips Geneva Watch Auction: XIX, on May 12, 2024.
The Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Ref. 3940
The Patek Philippe reference 3940 stands out as one of Patek Philippe's most iconic models ever created. Introduced in 1985 under the guidance of Philippe Stern, it represented a notable departure in design for the brand's classical perpetual calendar models. During its production period, it ranked among Patek Philippe's longest-running references, with production finally halting around 2007.
Patek Philippe created a pair of ref. 3940 "Saatchi Edition" models (3940G-029, 18k white gold case with salmon dial; 3940R-027, 18k pink gold case with brown dial) according to our leaked cheat sheet, but we can confirm at least one other model exists: the ref. 3940P-027, cased in platinum with a blue dial.
Interestingly, unlike the 5070 above, the 3940 "Saatchi" models had a noticeable change from its original format. Yes, it still utilized new-old-stock cases that were then paired with a variety of fresh dial colors – but the layout of the dial itself was actually from the ref. 5140 QP that was originally the sequel to the 3940.
Fresh to the auction market, the present timepiece is part of only a handful of reference 3940s specially made for the 2015 Patek Philippe Watch Art Grand Exhibition. Showcasing a captivating salmon dial and open caseback, Patek Philippe used new old stock cases, paired with different dial colours that had never appeared before in the reference, but using the dial layout of the 5140, as can be seen from the present example.
It's not clear how many 3940 examples were produced in each of the three known case metals, but it's likely to be less than 20 per metal/reference. I've mentioned the numbers of confirmable results below.
3940G-029: None (First example to appear at Phillips Geneva in May 2024.)
3940R-027: One sold at auction.
3940P-027: One currently available via an online dealer.
The above breakdown does not include the ref. 3940G-029 that will be sold during the upcoming Phillips Geneva Watch Auction: XIX, on May 12, 2024.
The Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Ref. 3970EP + Ref. 5970
Two "Saatchi" Edition batches were produced for both the Patek Philippe ref. 3970 (3970EP-046; 3970ER-028) and the ref. 5970 (5970G-019; 5970J-014).
The 3970EP-046 is the model that has been the most successful in attracting collector attention over the past few years. The platinum case is paired with a black dial topped by a Breguet 12 o'clock numeral as well as an additional tachymeter scale.
Two different examples of the 3970EP-046 have sold at auction within the last two years, each for over half a million dollar, including one at Phillips Geneva in May 2023 that landed at CHF 571,500. Another example is confirmed to have been sold through an online dealer that specializes in Patek Philippe, while yet another is currently listed as available for sale on another online dealer's website.
A single example of the 3970ER-028, cased in pink gold with a black dial and Breguet 12 o'clock numeral, has appeared and sold at auction to date. And one example of the 5970J-014 has also appeared and sold at auction.
The remaining Saatchi Edition examples produced by Patek Philippe for the London Grand Exhibition (four ref. 5059s, and one each of a ref. 5050, a ref. 5033, a ref. 5951, a ref. 5971, and a ref. 6104 have had limited cultural impact on watch collecting/enthusiasm. They've also rarely been put up for sale, or seen in any way, shape, or form since the conclusion of the London Grand Exhibition.
Other collections released by Patek Philippe during the show, such as the London Monuments series, highlighted in the above image, have also had a relatively muted effect on the collecting hobby due to their minuscule production numbers and art-forward aesthetic.
You can learn more, place a bid, and view the entire Geneva Watch Auction: XIX catalog right here.
About Phillips In Association With Bacs & Russo
The team of specialists at PHILLIPS Watches is dedicated to an uncompromised approach to quality, transparency, and client service. Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo holds the world record for the most successful watch auction, with its Geneva Watch Auction: XIV having realized $74.5 million in 2021. Over the course of 2021 and 2022, the company sold 100% of the watches offered, a first in the industry, resulting in the highest annual total in history across all the auction houses at $227 million.
About Logan Baker
Logan has spent the past decade reporting on every aspect of the watch business. He joined Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo at the start of 2023 as the department's Senior Editorial Manager. He splits his time between New York and Geneva.
Recommended Reading
An In-Depth Collectors’ Guide To The Patek Philippe Chronograph Ref. 5070
A Guide To 21st-Century Patek Philippe Cushion-Shaped Chronographs
Patek Philippe’s TV-Shaped Ref. 5020 Is A Genuine ‘90s Deep-Cut