Next month at the Monaco Legend Auctions, a Patek Philippe 5208P timepiece owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin will hit the auction block. The watch itself retails for $1 million (980,000 Swiss Francs). However, you can’t just stroll in off the streets and purchase a Patek Philippe 5208P even if you have the money. You need to have an established relationship with the Patek Philippe brand in order to even be considered as a potential customer for this watch. In fact, owning another Patek Philippe watch might not even qualify you to be able to purchase the Patek Philippe 5208P, that’s how exclusive these timepieces are.
Patek Philippe is arguably the most exquisite Swiss watchmaker on Planet Earth. They might be the greatest Swiss watchmakers in the history of civilization. These are the timepieces owned by ‘old world money’, not the flashy watches you see dudes wearing in Vegas after they had one big year on the trading floor.
To the untrained eye, Vladimir Putin’s Patek Philippe 5208P might look like an alien artifact. This exquisite piece of machinery is worth every penny to watch collectors. Here are some photographs of the watch, and below I’ve included some information on the inner workings of the Patek Philippe 5208P:
Here are the listed technical specs on the movement of Vladimir Putin‘s Patek Philippe 5208P:
— Mechanical self-winding movement
— Caliber R CH 27 PS QI
— Minute repeater, monopusher chronograph and instantaneous perpetual calendar with aperture displays
— Chime with two gongs activated by a slide piece in the case
— Chronograph with 60-minute and 12-hour counters
— Moon phases
— Day, date, month, leap year and day/night indication in apertures
— Seconds subdial
— Charcoal-gray sunburst dial, gold applied hour markers
— 18K gold dial plate
— Strap: alligator with square scales, hand-stitched, matt black
— Fold-over clasp
— Interchangeable full back and sapphire-crystal case back
— Case is humidity and dust protected only (not water resistant)
— Platinum
— Case diameter: 42 mm
Vladimir Putin’s salary as President of the Russian Federation is around $112,000 per year. So, it is pretty interesting that he’s the owner of a rare watch that costs roughly nine times his annual earnings. If we’re reading between the lines, I’d suspect that old Vladdy is seeing an influx of cash money from elsewhere, but that’s not at all relevant to this story.
The auction website currently has no estimate listed for what this watch will fetch next month. With a retail price of $1 million, Vladimir Putin’s name attached to the watch, and the fact that your average wealthy individual can’t just stroll off the street and purchase one of these I think it’s safe to assume this watch will sell for a small fortune. You can find more images and specs of the watch over on TheDailyWant.