It’s not unusual to see Patek Philippe watches at auction, but two examples in the Sotheby’s Important Watches sale in New York last December stood apart.
The watch dials had been altered especially for the consignor, a longtime Patek Philippe customer who wanted them to be more readable because of his failing eyesight. The adjustments were subtle: repainted hands on one model and greater dial/hand contrast on the other. But since any customized Patek Philippe is exceptional, it was enough to call them unique pieces — and to warrant a premium price.
“This is really rarefied air,” said Geoff Hess, Sotheby’s global head of watches. “If an owner is prominent enough, and has done enough with the brand, Patek might make something unique for them, but you almost never see them.”
Of the two watches sold in December, one — a Ref. 5070P-001 chronograph — would normally sell in the $175,000 range, but “went for $482,600 because of the customization,” Mr. Hess said. The other watch, a Ref. 5970G-001 perpetual calendar chronograph that originally retailed for $89,600 and trades on the secondary market in the $300,000 range, sold for $508,000. Both watches have been out of production for many years.
But for high-level collectors commissioning custom pieces, resale value is typically not the driving factor. In a luxury market that is increasingly about so-called premiumization for the 1 percent, bespoke confers status and discernment.
“We have seen very, very few of our bespoke watches on the secondary market,” said Christian Selmoni, style and heritage director of Vacheron Constantin, whose custom workshop, Les Cabinotiers, is set up to produce unique pieces and custom orders. “They tend to be highly personal,” he said. “It’s something customers want to keep and pass down to their children, so it’s very intimate.”
Jabs Totonji, a collector who lives and works in Washington, whose extensive collection includes a dozen unique watches, including five directly commissioned by him, agreed.
“I will never sell my unique pieces,” he said. “It’s not about the value for me. It’s about creating something special. I love being able to customize something that’s already beautiful by making it yours, adding your little twist to it and seeing how far you can push the boundaries within the brand’s DNA.
“It’s a relationship built on trust. They are trusting you not to flip the watch, and you’re trusting them not to ever replicate your piece for someone else.”
Mr. Totonji is flush with ideas for future commissions, and his dream watch would be one from the Swiss watchmaker Jaquet Droz. The Swatch Group-owned brand, founded in 1738, is known for its highly decorated and complicated watches, including minute repeaters, tourbillons and jacquemarts — mechanical figurines that move when activated.
One of its most well-known pieces is an automaton called the Singing Bird Cage. Made around 1780, it was a large, hanging cage housing a clock with two birds which, when activated, played a lifelike melody. The birds, decorated with real bird feathers, moved their wings, beaks and tails when they sang. A 2014 wristwatch version, called the Charming Bird, positions the automaton bird on the dial, where it flutters and tweets under a crystal dome.
Mr. Totonji imagines a riff on that theme, customized to replicate a falcon.
“My dad is a falconer, and my company is called Golden Eagle Group, so I’m into birds,” he said, referring to the real estate company where he serves as chief investment officer. He hopes Jaquet Droz can somehow reproduce the screeching sounds falcons make. “Falcons make different types of noises depending on who or what is approaching and why,” he said.
He relishes the uniqueness such a creation would represent. “I’ve been in rooms where someone has a F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance or some other rare piece, but I would be the only person anywhere to own a version of the Charming Bird designed as a falcon,” he said.
He has yet to approach Jaquet Droz with the idea, but it seems likely the brand could accommodate him. In 2022, it decided to dedicate its entire production to custom orders, and now makes fewer than 100 pieces a year, with an average value of $300,000.
“In its early years, Jaquet Droz was a watchmaker to kings; our customers are the kings of today,” said Alain Delamuraz, the brand’s chief executive.
“They are willing to spend a half-million dollars on a watch, but not if it’s like anyone else’s,” he added. “They are looking for a piece that is dedicated to them, that they can share with their family and friends, rather than something recognizable to anyone in the street.”
One of the brand’s most remarkable pieces is the Tourbillon Dragon, commissioned by the owner of a painting of a dragon by John Howe, the conceptual designer for the “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” trilogies, with whom Jaquet Droz collaborated on the piece.
The 3-D dragon on the dial of the Tourbillon Dragon White Gold John Howe is an automaton with 16 moving components. When activated, the dragon undulates; its eye and jaw open and close; its tongue moves; its crest rises and falls; and its claws grasp a pearl.
Jaquet has made variations, including one for a client (Imperial Dragon Automaton Sapphire – Opal) with a case made of transparent sapphire crystal and an Australian opal on the dial. It was a graduation gift for the client’s son, and was valued in the range of $500,000.
“These are not just commercial transactions,” Mr. Delamuraz said. “They are artistic collaborations between our artisans and the customers who have the passion to dream of them. This makes them not only patrons but also artists. It’s an experience that humanizes luxury. ”
When it comes to customization, Mr. Delamuraz said, “the sky is the limit.” But there are some conditions. “If it’s a military motif we won’t do it. We are careful with religion and politics,” he said.
“We had a Chinese customer who came to us and said, ‘I am a very good friend of Xi Jinping’ and he showed us a picture of himself with him, his wife and children. He said, ‘I’d like a watch personalized with the face of Xi Jinping in the middle. On the left, I’d like Putin, and on the right, Kim Jong-un.’ We said no, it’s too politically engaged.”
Vacheron Constantin applies similar guardrails. “We have some limitations, the first one being ethical criteria,” Mr. Selmoni said. “If it’s related to war, sexuality or a controversial historical character, we will not take this into consideration.
“The second criteria would be aesthetic,” he added. “We have received inquiries for watches inspired by models from competitors, that are potentially unavailable. Obviously we won’t do anything like that. And we won’t do variations on models in our own current collections. We wanted to concentrate our work force on unique pieces with complications and high métiers.”
The minimum price, he said, is always six figures, and “up to seven figures, easily.”
High art is the preferred motif, which raises the question of intellectual property, but Vacheron Constantin is in a unique position to exercise some leeway. The company has cultural partnerships with three major museums: the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Palace Museum in Beijing.
These partnerships involve, for example, the sponsorship of an artisan residency program at the Met, and the exchange of conservation techniques with experts at the Louvre, which allows Vacheron Constantin the right to reproduce certain works of art.
“We have the right to reproduce any artwork in the Louvre, except one — the ‘Mona Lisa,’” Mr. Selmoni said. “The Met has more restrictions, primarily because we have modern artists that still have the rights during their lifetime. It’s always a discussion with the museum.”
In 2022, Vacheron crafted a grisaille enamel reproduction of “La lutte pour l’étendard de la Bataille d’Anghiari” by Peter Paul Rubens, which hangs in the Louvre. Executing the level of detail in miniature on the dial involved using brushes with three to four bristles, pointed tools, as well as cactus spines.
Cartier is taking its N.S.O. (New Special Order) department in a similarly high-end direction, rather than simply customizing existing models from the current collection.
“Over the last few months we have refined our approach to special orders with the objective to be more exclusive, to propose more exceptional designs,” said Arnaud Carrez, the house’s chief marketing officer. “The objective is to be able to propose some very special watches with some complications and some métiers d’art. That’s really the direction we want to take — to have more exclusivity when it comes to special orders.”
For anyone thinking about commissioning a custom piece, Mr. Totonji’s advice would be to not get discouraged by the limited access to bespoke programs.
“There can certainly be hurdles in developing a relationship with a brand to the point where they will do a custom piece with you, but I would say, in general, don’t be afraid to just ask,” he said.
“You have to give them the idea, something they would be proud to make.”
The post These Watches Are Personal, Unique and Made to Keep appeared first on New York Times.
