“This is what watch collecting is all about” – Aurel Bacs on the Tiffany Blue 5711/1A-018 selling at Phillips for $6.5M USD

Zach Blass

This week, the watch world was eagerly awaiting what the result of “lot 1T” would be, and, not if it would break the record for the highest hammer price for a 5711 Nautilus, but rather by how much. Watching the bidding live, even remotely you could feel the energy and excitement in the room. For nearly twenty minutes, bidders battled for their place in watch history. Who would win the “honor” of owning the last and the most expensive Nautilus 5711 ever sold?

Within seconds it surpassed its retail price of $52K, and in minutes it surpassed the Gregory Pau green Nautilus that sold for $490,000 – the previous record holder. The bids kept climbing and climbing, and, like a boxing match, the auction seemed like it would end at $5,150,000 USD. But, before Aurel could call the knockout ten count and bang the hammer, a remote bidder in Miami kept the party going a little bit further. So shocked, in the moment, Aurel exclaimed: “can we delay the remaining 80 lots to tomorrow, I need to recover from that”.

After a bit more back and forth, as many expected, the new Patek Philippe x Tiffany & Co. Nautilus 5711/1A-018 broke the record for the most expensive 5711 ever sold at auction – the final hammer price a whopping $5,350,000 USD. The total expense for the winning New York bidder, after the buyer’s premium, resulted in a final cost of $6,503,500 USD. Could you imagine spending that much money on a stainless steel Nautilus? What will this mean for the other 169 owners of the 5711/1A-018? Will the temptation to flip or resell be too great, too large a sum to ignore, in the wake of this astounding result?

Interestingly, Aurel Bacs, before proceeding to the next lot, concluded lot 1T with the final remark “this is what watch collecting is all about”. I suspect many would beg to differ, and would express that “hype” is the largest factor in this achieved result rather than a passion for horology. But, perhaps, he is unfortunately correct. This is, in fact, the new normal when it comes to watch collecting – FOMO, hype, flexing. For better or worse, depending on your outlook, watch collecting has become far more mainstream in recent years. Regardless of your thoughts on that final note, and the final hammer price, I think we can all at least take solace in the fact that the money will be put to good use by The Nature Conservancy – who is receiving 100% of the proceeds.