Mythical Set of Patek Philippe Pocket Watches Expected to Sell for $10M+

Abu Dhabi—Sotheby’s has unveiled another highlight of its upcoming “Collectors’ Week” event in Abu Dhabi—a complete set of four Patek Philippe “Star Caliber 2000” pocket watches the auction house expects to sell for more than $10 million. 

Created in the year 2000 to mark the turn of the millennium, the “Star Caliber 2000” has 21 complications, 1,118 components, and six innovations that received a patent.

They are: selective opening covers (meaning the cover can be opened on either side by rotating the bow); running equation of time; sunrise and sunset display; sky and moon display; rapid calendar correction (all calendar indicators can be advanced with one push); and a chime that is a faithful reproduction of the sound of Big Ben in London. 

It is the third most complicated watch Patek Philippe has ever manufactured, Sotheby’s said, behind only the Henry Graves Supercomplication, released in 1933, and the Caliber 89, released in 1989.

Sotheby’s sold the Graves watch for $24 million in 2016, and it remains the second most-expensive watch ever sold at auction. 

“Even among the world’s most elite collectors, the ‘Star Caliber 2000’ is something of a myth—whispered about, but rarely encountered,” said Sam Hines, Sotheby’s global chairman of watches.

“To offer a complete, previously unknown set in untouched condition is the kind of opportunity that surfaces once in a generation, if ever.” 

Sotheby’s “Abu Dhabi Collectors’ Week” is scheduled for Dec. 2-5 and will take place at The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, which is home to the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the not-yet-opened Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.

It will include masterclasses, panel discussions, and exhibitions that will culminate in three live auctions on Dec. 5, including a single-owner sale of watches and jewelry that includes the Patek Philippe “Star Caliber 2000” pocket watches as well as a 31.68-carat fancy orangy pink diamond.

The sales will mark the first time Sotheby’s has held an auction in Abu Dhabi, and will happen a little over a year after Abu Dhabi-based investment and holding company ADQ took a minority stake in the auction house.

Sotheby’s is holding the sales in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office.