Sylvester Stallone’s Patek Philippe had horophiles fighting like Rocky Balboa at Sotheby’s in New York on Wednesday.
The Grandmaster Chime (Ref. 6300G-010) sparked a fierce bidding battle between five bidders at Sotheby’s Important Watches auction in New York before it sold to a private Asian collector for $5.4 million. That is the highest price achieved for any modern watch sold at Sotheby’s and makes Sly’s Patek the third most expensive timepiece sold in the auction house’s history.
Stallone’s Ref. 6300 is housed in the original plastic seal, certainly upping the value of the watch.
Sotheby’s
The Grandmaster Chime was originally released as a limited edition in 2014 to commemorate Patek’s 175th anniversary, after which it was added to the regular catalog as Reference 6300 in 2016. The model is considered the most complicated in the Patek portfolio, with 20 complications including a Grand Sonnerie. The development, production, and assembly of just one example totals an astounding 100,000 hours.
The watch was sold with a presentation box engraved with Stallone’s name.
Sotheby’s
The Grandmaster Chime is an aesthetic marvel, too. The watch features a reversible white-gold case adorned with Patek’s signature hobnail pattern. It also showcases two faces, as many extra complicated watches do: One is focused on timekeeping and sonnerie, and the other is dedicated to the instantaneous perpetual calendar. Stallone’s Ref. 6300 was not only preserved in the original plastic seal but was also accompanied by a grand presentation box engraved with Stallone’s name and a Grandmaster Chime book bearing his name.
Sotheby’s
“The sale of the Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime was an unrepeatable celebration, not only of a masterpiece by the most revered Swiss-watchmakers of technical excellence, but also of the legendary icon that is Sylvester Stallone, who has been a deeply influential and admired collector for many decades,” Geoff Hess, Sotheby’s head of watches, Americas, said in a statement. “To feel the pulse of collectors racing with excitement in pursuit of absolute top-caliber material was tremendous, and an homage to the art of collecting at the highest level.”
Hess himself actually joined the bidding battle, snapping up Stallone’s Patek Philippe Nautilus (Ref. 5711/1300A001) for $492,000. Who knew watch buffs could throw down like Rocky?
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Credit : robbreport.com
