The Beatles and Their Watches - Part I: The Pateks

I love the Beatles and I love watches.  So when the two collide I am always fascinated.  From the cheapest of plastic knockoffs with their faces on them to the high horology of Patek Phillipe, the Beatles and watches have it all.  I am especially interested in the watches they wore while they were actually Beatles (roughly from 1957 to 1970).  But before we get there, let’s get the Pateks out of the way (as they are the most documented online).

For his 40th birthday, less than two months before he was assassinated, John Lennon was gifted a Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph ref. 2499.  This was 1980.  There are only two photographs of Lennon wearing this watch.  Here is one of them with an image of the type of watch as well.   Two of these sold at auction by Southeby’s in 2018 for 3,915,000 CHF and 3,234,905 CHF respectively.  Neither one of those was Lennon’s watch which is reported as either missing or owned by the Lennon Estate. If found and auctioned, I reckon it would give the Paul Newman Daytona a run for its money!

UPDATE: How does $10 to $15 million sound? How about $40 million!? Six months after I made this post, Lennon's 2499 turned up as the subject matter of a lawsuit in Geneva in which an Italian Collector who had purchased the watch from a German Auction House was sued by Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, on the basis that the watch had been stolen by the Lennons' former chauffeur, Koral Kosan, and so true ownership could not have passed from Mr. Kosan through a third party to the auction house. The court sided with Ono, however the watch remains held in trust at the Italian Collector's lawyer's office pending an appeal.

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-wild-mostly-complete-story-of-john-lennons-lost-patek-philippe-2499

The Beatle who appears to have had the most interest in watches is Ringo Starr who, in the 1970s wore a Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar reference 3448.  It sold at auction in 2015 for $179,200.  It would probably fetch a lot more now.

By 2017, both Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney were sporting similar Patek Phillipe Aquanauts.  Ringo’s is the original ‘Jumbo’ Aquanaut Reference 5065-1A and Paul’s is the Aquanaut Reference 5167A.  While both Beatles are left handed, Paul wears his watch on his right wrist and Ringo wears his on his left wrist. 

In my next post I will turn our attention to what they were actually wearing during the early years of being Beatles.  

Wm Shakespeare

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part I: The Pateks

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part II: The Accurists

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part III: Cartier & Breitling

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part IV: Ringo Starr

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part V: The Apple Watch

The Beatles and Their Watches – Part VI: Sir Paul’s Casio

The Beatles and Their Watches – Part VII: The Pocket Watches

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part VIII: Raymond Weil

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part IX: Joey Ramone's Apple Watch

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part X: Jimmie Nicol's Watch

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part XI: Yellow Submarine

The Beatles and Their Watches - Part XII: John Lennon's STOLEN Patek Found! (Updated)