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After an image surfaced on Instagram of Bernard Arnault, owner of LVMH and now owner of Tiffany, playing chess with his son, it looked as though he was lucky enough to secure one of the 170 unique Tiffany-Blue Patek Philippe Nautilus Perpetual 5740 pieces.
On closer inspection, however, it became clear that this was, in fact, an even rarer timepiece. While the watch in question was indeed a Patek Philippe Nautilus quipped with a Tiffany-Blue dial, it was not the 5711. Instead, it’s a unique Tiffany-Blue Patek Philippe Nautilus Perpetual Calendar 5740.
Ordinarily, the 5740 is encased in white gold and equipped with a mid-blue dial. Arnault’s unique take resembled TAG Heuer Carrera, and though it featured the same pairing of Tiffany Blue dial and black and white hour markers and hands as used on the 5711 pieces, this watch boasts perpetual calendar sub dial lettering and a moonphase window.
Such a unique time is sure to come with a significant price tag. For context, the “Tiffany Blue” Nautilus released on December 11 for $52,635 apiece. However, one of the ultra-rare watches did hit the auction block courtesy of Phillips, granting the public a rare opportunity to try their luck at snagging the timepiece.
The unique opp piqued the attention of three very wealthy bidders, who sent the “Tiffany Blue” Nautilus’ gavel price skyrocketing to over 100 times that of retail, eventually landing on a gavel price of $5,350,000 with an all-in cost of $6.5 million.