I cannot help returning to the story of Sylvester Stallone selling his ultra-rare and prestigious white gold Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime for $5.4 million — the most complicated watch in the Patek Philippe core collection — within a few years of him purchasing it.
He had not even removed the watch from its factory packaging.
This is a watch that Mr Stallone said he only managed to buy after writing several letters to the board of Patek Philippe, no doubt proclaiming his love for the piece.
The board eventually gave him the green light to purchase it from an east coast authorised dealer in the United States.
By coincidence, I was interviewing Patek Philippe president Thierry Stern the morning after the watch was sold by Sotheby’s in New York, and he was happy to vent his frustration that a watch, which he would have hoped would have been passed down from one generation to the next, had been flipped for a quick $2 million profit.
“Of course we do not like it, but it can happen. I cannot control everybody. It is not fair for a client that may have been waiting for this piece for many years and then sees it being sold,” Mr Stern told WatchPro.
The retailer that sold the watch has even more reason to be angry. Patek Philippe’s authorised dealers are inundated with requests from clients — many of them big spenders with decades of loyalty to the brand — and have to gently explain why a watch like a Grandmaster Chime will never come their way.
Not easy for clients who are rarely expected to take no for an answer.
I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, it does not feel fair that the owner of any watch should be prevented from selling it.
On the other hand, this was a watch that the Rocky star bought in the full knowledge that Patek Philippe would take a dim view, and probably never sell him another unicorn watch, if he resold it.
He broke a verbal contract with the brand and its retailer and it is therefore right that he is kicked out of the queue for any future purchases.
Rob, I could not agree more with your views on this matter. A punch to the chin of PP, the AD and all serious watch collectors of PP watches ( a brand which for me produces beautiful movements but that remains as one the most expensive producers of ugly watches in the whole world). Shame on SS and shame on PP for letting the watch end up in the wrong hands.
Why did this AD leave his watch sealed, they are not supposed to do that. Seems like he never had any intention of wearing it.
For a two million dollar profit in just a couple of years nobody with a brain would not resell the product. And folks, that’s all these watches are: products…
Patek has to realize that watches will be flipped. Too many companies now try to limit the sale and forget who owns the title. How long do you have to hold on to it? Until you die? It has no right to be upset the Stallone sold it. It’s his right. What if he had financial problems? Too bad? No one should be upset at any one. And yes, Patek should decide who gets a watch if they so desire. The burden of not discriminating will be on them.
I understand all of the criticism of Sly, and I mostly agree with it. However, some of the rhetoric around him is as if he found the cure for a major disease and decided to withhold it from the masses. 99% of us passing comment wouldn’t come within a lightyear of being able to buy that watch, but I’m pretty sure most would take up the opportunity to make the multi million pound profit given the opportunity.
I’m a fan of many Stallone movies growing up in the Rocky era in the US. Why would he flip the watch? Does he really need the money? He just flipped his Bel Air mansion for a huge profit and moved to Palm Beach. https://www.latimes.com/business/real-estate/story/2022-02-25/sylvester-stallone-sells-beverly-park-mansion-for-58-million-a-deep-discount
This completely fucks up the whole “celebrity first” marketing initiative many luxury brands take to get an acclaimed celebrity to participate in “product placement” and wear their items in hopes they wear it on film or somewhere to be photographed. The fact “Sly” (not a misnomer) duped an authorized Patek dealer to leap frog over the waiting list of actual clients and then flipped it at auction for a profit, is awful but not surprising. After all, this is the guy who blatantly ripped off Chuck “The Bayonne Bleeder” who was his inspiration for the Rocky character and made $ Millions from that Rocky franchise and finally “reconciled” and settled with Chuck “out of court” to avoid massive legal fees and potentially millions in IP or trademark fees. No wonder “Sly” is a Trump supporter! Textbook Trump maneuvering.