On 9 October 1980, John Lennon, one of the world's biggest stars at the time, celebrated his 40th birthday. For the occasion, his wife Yoko Ono visited Tiffany & Co.'s flagship store at Fifth Avenue in New York, and bought her husband a special watch. At the time, Tiffany was an official retailer of luxury watch brands such as Patek Philippe and Rolex.
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Yoko Ono bought one of the most coveted watch models on the market – a Patek Philippe Ref. 2499, considered by many watch experts and enthusiasts to be the finest watch ever made. In addition, the model she bought was co-signed 'Tiffany & Co.', meaning that the dial of the watch was stamped with Tiffany's name alongside Patek Philippe's name. Such detail, although small in size, can make a watch value increase by more than 100%.
Another important detail is, of course, the fact that the watch has been owned by John Lennon. An item's ownership and history is called provenance, and if there is something collectors are willing to pay top prices for, it is items with impeccable and interesting provenance. A provenance traceable back to John Lennon can make the value increase by, not only 100%, but probably ten times as much.
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News about the watch was made public after a court in Geneva ruled in favour of Yoko Ono as the rightful owner of the wristwatch. This was after it became known that the watch had been found in the hands of an Italian watch collector, who had bought it privately from a German auction house in 2014. The collector later went to Christie's with the intention of consigning it with them, but Christie's contacted Yoko Ono for a statement, which is when the legal issues began. Accordingly, Yoko only found out that the watch had been stolen once she was informed about it by Christie's, which is why she never reported the watch as stolen. The Italian watch collector bought the watch for €600,000 (£518,000) in 2014, and claims that he is the rightful owner, since Yoko Ono never reported the watch as stolen – a procedure that according to New York law, must take place within three years of the theft. The court ruled in Yoko's favour, but the decision has been appealed, meaning that the final ruling hasn't yet been made.
John Lennon was murdered on 8 December 1980 outside his New York apartment, less than two months after he celebrated his 40th birthday. He was never known to be a watch collector, but perhaps the Ref. 2499 might have changed that.
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As of now, the watch community is debating the value of the watch – a matter rendered complicated by the fact that there aren't many other models to compare it to. It is believed that only two Patek Philippe Ref. 2499 in yellow gold with a Tiffany & Co. stamp exist. One is John Lennon's, and the other one was sold by Sotheby's in 2020 for $818,600 (£670,600) including buyer's fees. The John Lennon's ownership, however, will probably increase its value by ten times. Many experts believe that, if offered at auction, John Lennon's Patek Philippe Ref. 2499 could achieve $10 million.
See also: The 10 Most Expensive Watches Ever Auctioned
The current record for any wristwatch ever sold without celebrity provenance is for a Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300A-010 sold £25.2 million. Other expensive Patek Philippe models include the Patek Philippe Stainless Steel Ref. 1518, sold for £9 million, and the Patek Philippe Pink Gold Ref. 1518 with French calendar, sold for £7.7 million.
Looking at celebrity-owned watches, the most expensive watches are Paul Newman's Rolex 'Paul Newman' Daytona Ref. 6239 ($17.7 million), Eric Clapton's Patek Philippe Ref. 2499/100 ($3.6 million), Steve McQueen's Heuer Monaco Ref. 1133 ($2.2 million), Mahatma Gandhi's Zenith No. 421357 ($2 million), Marlon Brando's Rolex Stainless Steel Ref. 1675 ($1.9 million), and Elvis Presley's Omega H6582/D96043 ($1.8 million). This is excluding some of the lesser-known names, such as the Henry Graves, Emperor Haile Selassie, and King Fuad I of Egypt watches, who do have important provenance and respective auction prices, but are perhaps not as connected to famous names.
See also: A Pricy Pocketwatch: The Patek Philippe Henry Graves Supercomplication
All in all, a rare Patek Philippe with exceptional celebrity provenance has the potential to bring in significant hammer prices. John Lennon's Patek Philippe Ref. 2499 might indeed become the world's most expensive watch ever sold.
