Patek’s Summertime Sadness
Right in the Stallones
As I’m sure many of you have heard and seen by now, Sylvester Stallone recently sold a number of his personal watches at auction through Sotheby’s. If you’ve been out of the loop and this is news to you, I’d recommend pulling up the video announcing the auction/interviewing Mr. Stallone then come on back over here. We’ll dig into why this auction ruffled more than a few feathers (and some pretty high up feathers at that).
The highlight of this auction, eventually fetching some $5.4 million this past June, was the Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime 6300 (full set, which is pretty extensive and even includes…a Patek Philippe AirPods case…right…), a watch that nobody puttering around my blog will ever see or have the chance to own; even at “retail,” aka, even if you are *chosen* and get the opportunity to buy this watch, it’ll cost you a couple million anyways. Tis but a dent in the ol’ couch change account…
Once the word was out that this watch was being sold, the watch internet lost its cool and so too did Patek. Everyone and their mothers had something to say about it, with the most common bits to be hurled being along the lines of:
How dare he!? He’s a flipper! He’s not a true collector!
Most could never get this watch, and yet he’s selling his! How unappreciative!
UGH if only I were the one chosen to purchase the GMC! I’d never sell it…or be able to afford it…
“It’s not fair” (this is literally a quote from Patek’s President, Thierry Stern).
“Stallone’s choice to keep the watch in its packaging can be seen as classic flipper behavior” (okay loosen up that grip on your pearls Robb Report).
“What a douche” (random Instagram comment, classic).
Now, I don’t know Sylvester Stallone (shocking, I know). I grew up a Philly sports fan, which brings with it an implicit draw to the Rocky franchise, so I’m at least familiar with his films and career, and since 2018/19 I’ve seen that he’s a pretty big watch guy. Stallone buying this watch, hanging onto it for a few years, then selling it on can be taken any number of ways, but I see the whole situation at its most simplistic:
The man wanted the watch, bought the watch, no longer wanted the watch, and sold the watch.
And I think that’s perfectly fine.
At the end of the day, watches are material objects that do not inherently create or deserve feelings from any of us. Some watches we love, and some we don’t; those feelings and material attractions come and go, regardless of exclusivity and price point. I’m sure the pressure to hang onto something that is no longer wanted grows considerably when there’s a degree of provenance layered on one’s own buying and owning experience, but all of us are entitled to have our interests change and, regardless of our reasons, move on from something that no longer scratches that itch.
In the case of the Grandmaster Chime, yes, it is an incredible watch. As Stallone described in the Sotheby’s video, it’s really more like a piece of art than something practical and wearable, and I think this is the major giveaway as to why he felt it was time to sell it on. The man is an action movie star with tough taste and an eye for more brutalist types of accessories; his favorite and most worn watches are big Panerai pieces, and his collaborations with Richard Mille are even bigger. He’s even had multiple watches with skulls on them. While the GMC is a large watch, it’s not in the same category as the watches that he typically would grab in the morning routine. It’s a piece of art, something to appreciate, and it’s not crazy to think that even someone like Stallone, who could easily afford the watch initially anyways, saw it as something best served to stay in the packaging, in the box, and in a safe.
With that being the case, my question was and continues to be:
Isn’t it a good thing that he sold it?
If, as the President of PP bemoaned, there are so many collectors out there who truly want the watch to wear and use - and let’s be real, these are not people who are sweating for cash given the initial sticker price and insane purchasing history one must have with Patek to be considered for this watch - wouldn’t it have been to their benefit to be able to purchase one outside of the loopholes of the manufacturer?
Personally, I would think so, but I also think that what irritated Patek even more than the watch going up for sale and not remaining with its original owner was the fact that they were not in control of its destiny anymore. To again quote the President of PP:
“Of course we do not like it, but it can happen. I cannot control everybody…
…You cannot control humans one hundred percent.”
Not sure about you, dear reader, but I’m not the biggest fan of the thought of a company being so invested in controlling what I would do with their product once purchased. Patek is of course not the only watch brand to be like this (looking at you, Rolex, with your AD silliness), but seldom to we see the person at the top actually come out and say these types of things. The rumor is the Stallone will be barred from purchasing any Pateks in the future, which, even if true, I’m sure he took into account and was fine with when deciding to sell the watch in the first place. And I’m not saying that brands shouldn’t take actual flipping - the act of buying something at retail and selling it for an egregious profit - seriously, because that has been and continues to be an issue for many brands (not just in the watch space). But I do believe that as consumers, regardless of scarcity and price point, we have to reserve the right to move along from something if it no longer is best suited to remain in our care. I’ve bought watches that I absolutely loved, or thought I loved, then eventually fell out of love with, and decided it was best to sell them on to better homes. It’s normal; it’s part of the hobby. And I think that this norm should extend outwards and upwards even to those ever so exclusive corners of the collecting community.
When it comes to watches, or any hobby I’ve had, I’ve always said that when it’s not fun anymore, I’ll be out. Same goes for owning any one specific watch; if I don’t get enjoyment from it anymore, there’s no sense in keeping it, even if that means I may never be able to get it back. The Stallone auction seemed to me to be much more aligned with this frame of mind than with flipping, but that’s just my two cents. Counting those, and I only have $2,221,999.98 left to go to be able to afford my own Grandmaster Chime. Yay!
In the meantime, I’ll be happily wearing pieces like this vintage Seiko tank that most definitely did not come with an AirPods case:
As always, wherever you are, and wherever you’re going, many thanks for stopping by.