Grail hunting again - Patek Nautilus

[yeti]

Much like this thread, which ended very well with the acquisition of the Duometre, a much loved part of my collection, it's all happening again.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

It's time to start the next hunt in the gradual wandering towards the end-game of fewer, higher end watches.

The object of my desire is the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5980 chronograph with blue dial, it has been something of a 'grail' for some time now but again would involve the destruction of much of my collection. I know I can do it, I know it's hard work but it will hopefully all be worth it.

The hardest piece to let go of is going to be my Deepsea, a watch I really fell for both on appearance and as a piece of engineering brilliance. I am sorted for Rolex with my vintage Sea-Dweller and gold Submariner though so will survive without it (until I buy another in a few years!). Annoyingly, many piece I have bough recently, mainly from tz-uk will be going for the chop as well including that lovely Cartier Roadster - I knew deep down it would have to go, c'est la vie. Various Seamasters, SuperOceans, Navitimers, Carreras and Land Rovers(!) will have to go, a few might appear in the classifieds over the next month so keep an eye out for bargains. They need to be sold.

On the subject of the PP; the looks and concept aren't to everyone's taste and in fact I never gave it a thought until I tried one on and was instantly and obsessively smitten. It's an astonishing amount of money for a stainless steel watch but once on it on it seems... worth it..?



Thoughts?

[yeti]

Mosdef said:

What do you reckon the chances are of this one being 'the one'?

There is no 'one' although I admit when they are all being sold to fund a child's first house or something, this could be the last to go

Long termers now are:

JLC Duometre
Breguet 5707
Reverso 8 days
Panerai 190 Radiomir 8 Days
IWC Doppelchrono
Rolex 16618
Rolex 1665 red
JLC Master calendar moonphase

I hope my Blancpain Fifty Fathoms calendar can stay but it may not be 'needed' when I get the 5980. And a Perpetual Calendar is required of course, loving the IWC Portuguese version

[yeti]

Voldemort said:

If I want another watch I'll either get it, save for it, or simply lust and do without.

Fair enough and we all collect in different ways.

Some watches I own and never really fall in love with so they go to fund something else. I built up a good collection (50 odd) of watches over the years and that has by and large been reduced with less expensive pieces making way for higher end stuff. Of course this ends eventually and I can see myself one day with perhaps two watches only - a steel sports (which would probably be this Nautilus) and a gold complication (could be my Breguet, could be a Patek). And a quartz beater obviously!

[yeti]

avinalarf said:

I was recently In Italy if you PM me I will give you the name of a store that I visited that stocks Nautilus and many other high end watches at discounted prices.
Absolutely no connection with me.

Kind of you Stephen but I am getting this brand new and never opened from the factory from a private collection. I assure you the price cannot possibly be beaten

[yeti]

chris56 said:

Couple of thoughts :
1. If you think you will stop collecting watches - I think you are deluding yourself. The rate that you buy and flip watches would lead one to suspect that you will continue like this.

Until the money runs out as someone pointed out! I am pretty much selling everything I can live without for this one... after that I really will struggle to find anything I would want to sell/trade so it becomes an exercise in saving up my pocket money. Things will slow down as my life and priorities are going to change early next year.

[yeti]

PJ S said:

Unimpressed.
I don't get all the fuss about PP – sure the movement decoration is very nicely done, but that's it.

No surprise there. And I mean that in a nice way

PJ S said:

Regarding this model in particular – hats off to them for the single sub-dial display, but it's flawed in practice, unless you spent the whole time staring at the seconds hand, to keep track of whether it's under or over 30 seconds being indicated.

Not sure you have understood the registers - the watch has no running seconds hand so the central pinion seconds is for the chrono, measuring a minute in the standard way. It has a flyback mechanism so if you want to run the seconds constantly (how it was conceived) then the chrono simply starts by using the flyback. The sub dial is minutes and hours.

PJ S said:

The bracelet is nice, but obviously a different take on the original theme GG penned for Audemars Piguet – I think I prefer the VC Overseas design the most, at this price point.

Fair enough. I had an AP ROO and loved it but I prefer the Patek version of Genta's design. The VC is however excellent value pre-owned at this end of the market.

PJ S said:

And finally……….the price!
No matter how you dress it up, everything has a value – and to these eyes, even with untold millions to fritter away, I would never see the value of what PP charge for these watches.

I'm buying it at a level that I could make a huge profit immediately. It will be an appreciating asset until the day it's sold even factoring in a service every 5-7 years.

PJ S said:

As for end game – doesn't exist. It's a figment of one's imagination, and the reality is you only end up collecting higher cost items as opposed to being satisfied.

As mentioned, a change of priorities is approaching. That is my endgame.

PJ S said:

I have no doubt that you will still buy other brands that you've never tried – VC, GO, GP, Moser & Cie, and perhaps even a GS – and that all you've done is tie up a lot of funds in man jewellery, some of which rarely sees the light of day.
Personally I'd have thought it more sensible to have the one big piece, which you already have in the JLC, and just maintain a core selection of daily wearables, some of which may go when something different comes in.

It will be hard to get into the other high end brandsnow, impossible in fact without selling one of the major pieces first so that is a collection killer. I also want the man jewellery as you call it to be a daily wearable; I wear the Duo and Breguet when I feel like it, everything in the box sees the light of day.

I do appreciate you opinions though, as always, whether I agree with them or not!!

[yeti]

Miguel Alvarez said:

When do you think you'll get it?

I have an October deadline to raise the money, so a month basically! Better get some ads done over the weekend

And not my favourite Patek either; but it is my favourite steel sports watch and currently the gold dress watch scene is saturated in the watch box.

I see me wearing it most days TBH, it's never 'not' appropriate as I don't wear a suit to work.

Edited by yeti on Thursday 28th August 16:43

[yeti]

PJ S said:

So you're going for this one, even though it's not the one you'd have ideally wanted, because the price is right, and you get to blot your copybook with a landmark achievement?

I'll just pick that out - I desperately wanted this watch more than any other, I simply couldn't afford it. Going rate, it would have been around 10k more expensive than anything I had ever bought. A well-placed friend has sourced one for me at a price I can afford, just, with huge sacrifices to my collection. So yes, I am going for it because the price is right, but also in the right way. I'm not having it because it's a bargain!

PJ S said:

Of course, if you're into that end of things, then foregoing the PC aspect altogether, you're looking at some delicious A Lange & Sohne, which may just complete your collection entirely.

I think you may well be right with the ALS, but it would have to be the right one and I don't know which that is; perhaps the Datograph in Pt.

I am hankering after the GO Moonphase on SC (just PM'd the guy!), their PC does not work for me, it's too simple for my tastes. The IWC PC that Tim just bought though... I narrowly missed out on that and the owner actually traded it for Tim's GO PC! I was prepared to lose the Blancpain and the JLC Moonphase for that one and am now considering one in Germany if I can put the money together. The timing is bad!

[yeti]

[quote=PJ S]

Presumably not this one – https://www.chrono24.com/en/iwc/potugieser-perpetu...
If pricing is similar, wouldn't a WG addition be better than another RG – I really don't think the YG with white dial is a good pairing, at least not in this instance.[/quote

Not that one, red gold, black dial same as the one Java Tim just bought. I'm seriously considering shifting another 15k's worth to get one!

Meeting the GO guy tomorrow to see the Senator Moonphase

[yeti]

CardShark said:

I think you're deluding yourself if you really think there's an end game

I probably hadn't meade myself clear; I am only 'heading towards' the end game. It ends when I die naturally or Mrs yeti kills me, whichever is first.

[yeti]

MYOB said:

Where's H22 when you need him...?

Embracing mediocrity no doubt...

[yeti]

jshell said:

I really don't mean to be rude, so please don't take offence, when I say that had those pieces not been sporting the name "Patek Phillipe", then they would be overlooked almost completely by almost everyone.

Not meaning to be rude, so please don't take offense (et cetera), but why on earth would you think you know the mind of 'almost everyone'? And how far these people you believe you speak for might overlook things?

[yeti]

NeMiSiS said:

IMHO of course.

Naturally



It is a style that divides opinions, no doubt about that! As I said, I wasn't bothered until i tried one on and saw how it was made. It's really a thing of wonder, IMHO of course

[yeti]

michael gould said:

if you can afford one Lewis, crack on because you won't be happy till you own one.

If only I 'could afford one' Michael, this would all be so much simpler. Sometimes you just need to make something happen - being stuck in Cape Town with only a Breitling Aerospace for company is not helping with my sales quest though

To the chap above who seems to be recommending a Casio instead of a Patek. Err, thanks. I think

[yeti]

Mr Aston Martin said:

Yeti, I don't think you will ever be satisfied and will continue on your journey which is exactly how it should be. Enjoy your journey and i'm looking forward to see where your quest takes you.

Sataisfied? Hard to say, perhaps content is the word I am hoping for. But the collection, althogh it hasn't changed hugely in value, will have reduced to so few pieces that it can not condense much further unless I got for one ultimate piece - but I need variety, there is no one watch for me!

Prioritoes are set to change next year, this is one (or two) last hurrahs!

[yeti]

Janosh said:

yeti said:

one ultimate piece

The next step already begun...

ultimate piece > grail ??

I don't think it exists! Not for me anyway, I'd rather have 5 x 20k watches than one 100k watch...

[yeti]

x5x3 said:

oh, and this thing about selling watches - do you really do that?

Err, yes. Have you kept every car you've ever bought?

I need to raise a significant sum of money for a watch, the obvious way is to sell the watches I don't wear or need.