Patek Philippe can be rightfully considered as the pinnacle of Swiss luxury watch manufacturing. Steeped in heritage and tradition, the brand has been making some of the most valuable, technically-complex, and highly sought-after timepieces since 1839. Throughout its existence, Patek has maintained an unwavering commitment to craftsmanship, innovation, and tradition. Every single watch produced by Patek is made with meticulous attention to detail by highly skilled artisans. Even the most basic Patek watches take around 9 months to make, while the more complex models can take up to 2 years. That’s why the Swiss luxury brand has only produced 1 million watches over the last 180 years. This makes every Patek Philippe watch highly desirable and exclusive.
However, there is one particular model that’s so exclusive that money alone cannot buy you the timepiece, even if you are a billionaire. The only way to purchase the timepiece is by making an appeal to the company’s owners, who decide if the buyer is worthy of the timepiece. Yes, it’s the Grandmaster Chime 6300G we are talking about – the holy grail of Patek watches.
The Swiss watchmaker has around 180 different models on offer, with many different iteration within each collection. But nothing matches the exclusivity of the Grandmaster Chime, the most complex watch ever created by Patek Philippe. Hollywood legend Sylvester Stallone recently announced that he’s putting up his ultra-rare Grandmaster Chime for sale, which will cross the auction block at Sotheby’s New York auction next month.
Purchased in 2021 for $2.5 million, Stallone’s Grandmaster Chime can end up fetching upwards of $8 million, earning him a sizable profit. In a YouTube video for Sotheby’s discussing his prized possession, the action icon talks about how he had to personally appeal and write letters to the Patek board to get his hands on the timepiece.
The process is the same for everyone, even if you’re the son of one of the richest people on this planet. Case in point, Anant Ambani, the scion of the richest family in Asia and a well-known collector of rare watches, must have gone through the vetting process to add a Grandmaster Chime to his personal collection. The same goes for Jay Z, who was spotted wearing the most complex Patek watch at the 65th Grammys.
Patek’s stringent vetting process
Many luxury brands often apply their own vetting process for their most exclusive items to maintain rarity and desirability. Hermès’ Birkin bag is a great example, which is next to impossible to buy straight from the French brand’s store. Only those customers with extensive purchase history with Hermès are offered the chance to buy the handbag. Even many luxury carmakers have similar vetting process for their limited-edition models, which are offered to only those customers who have owned multiple models of the same manufacturer.
However, Patek’s process is not that straightforward. Anyone who wishes to buy a Grandmaster Chime has to personally apply to the Swiss watchmaker. Those who are worthy for allocation are then handpicked by the Stern family, who own the brand. They select only those patrons of the brand who can truly appreciate and value the timepiece and not resell the watch for profit. It’s a shame Sly is selling his Grandmaster Chime, which might not go well with the Stern family.
The family that owns Patek Philippe
Patek Philippe is one of the very few luxury Swiss watch brands that are still privately owned. Jean and Charles Henri Stern purchased the company in 1932 and the family has owned Patek ever since. The Stern family originally manufactured dials and were suppliers for Patek Philippe, before acquiring the company. Over the nine decades, the Stern family has steered the company towards unmatched success. Patek Philippe’s ownership is now in its fourth generation, with Thierry Stern as president of the brand since 2009. Not only all the applications for Patek’s most exclusive models go through him, Thierry Stern personally checks every single watch before it leaves the factory.
What makes Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime 6300G one of the greatest horological creations?
It was in 2014 when Patek Philippe introduced the Grandmaster Chime Ref. 5175 as a limited-edition model to celebrate its 175th anniversary. The watch was added to the brand’s permanent collection two years later with a brand new reference – 6300. With no fewer than 20 complications, the Grandmaster Chime is the most complicated timepiece ever to be made by Patek Philippe. The list of complications includes a grande and petite sonnerie, minute repeater, alarm with time strike, date repeater, second time zone with day-night indicator, strikework mode display, strikework isolator display, alarm on-off indicator, crown position indicator and power reserve indicators for the movement and the strikework.
The watch is designed with two faces: one focusing on timekeeping and sonnerie, while the other is dedicated to the instantaneous perpetual calendar. The watch’s development, production, and assembly took an astounding 100,000 hours. Over the last eight years, Patek Philippe has released several different iterations of the Grandmaster Chime, including a one-off steel version that was sold for a whopping $31 million at the Only Watch charitable auction in 2019, setting a new record.
