REF. 5004A, CIRCA 2012

Christie’s is honoured to present this superb full-set stainless steel reference 5004A. Offered here for the first time as part of the Champion Collection, it is one of the very few ever to have been available to the open market and therefore represents an exceptional opportunity for the collector to obtain the almost unobtainable among 21st century complicated Patek Philippe.

When, in 2011, Patek Philippe announced that the final watches of the reference 5004 were to be made in stainless steel, to be sold only through the Geneva boutique, it created a stampede amongst collectors, resulting in all approximately 60 pieces selling out immediately. The stainless steel 5004A is so highly prized by those who have had the good fortune to obtain one, that in the 12 years since its release, the present watch is only the 9th example to have ever returned to the open market.

Launched in 1994, the reference 5004 includes several of the most significant complications known to horology. With perpetual calendar, split seconds chronograph, moon phases, as well as 24-hour and leap year indications, it is an undoubted masterpiece. Naturally, most of Patek Philippe’s highly complicated wristwatches were cased in precious metals, either gold or platinum, only very occasionally were such watches cased in stainless steel. This combination of an ultra-complicated and extremely expensive movement housed in a non-precious steel case has always had an immense allure for collectors and subsequently, complicated steel watches have become some of the most desirable of all, the steel reference 5004A being no exception.