If you want to get your hands on the rarest and most desirable Patek Philippe watches, you need two things: a very good relationship with an authorised dealer, and a healthy bank balance. Thankfully, Mark Wahlberg has both of those.
The 50-year-old actor, producer, former rapper and fitness fanatic is one of Hollywood’s most prolific watch collectors, but he’s got a particular passion for Patek: Wahlberg owns literally dozens of pieces from what’s widely considered the most prestigious watchmaker on the planet, from iced-out Nautiluses to nifty Grand Complications.
It’s not surprising, then, that Marky Mark is often one of the first men on the planet to receive some of Patek’s hottest new releases. In October, Wahlberg filled watch fans with envy after he was spotted wearing the new stainless steel ref. 5905/1A-001 – the green-dialled stainless steel chronograph that’s been touted as the new must-have Patek. His latest watch ups the ante even further.
Taking to Instagram earlier this week to extol the virtues of hard work by showing himself hustling at the home office, Wahlberg conspicuously had a new Patek Philippe Sky-Moon Tourbillon ref. 6002R-001 perched on his wrist. In a world filled with fancy Pateks, this watch stands out as one of the fanciest.
First released in 2001 and produced only sporadically over the last two decades, the Sky-Moon Tourbillon is one of Patek Philippe’s most complicated watches, and that’s saying something. This 44mm rose gold rendition features an impressive 12 complications, including a minute repeater with ‘cathedral gongs’, a perpetual calendar with retrograde date hand, and a sidereal time (‘star time’) telling face on its reverse.
Even more impressive are the watch’s aesthetic touches. The case and hands are immaculately hand-engraved with volutes and arabesques, and the front dial combines Grand Feu champlevé and cloisonné enamelling. It’s hard to over-emphasise just how much skill and man-hours go into crafting a watch like this.
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Naturally, pricing a timepiece like this is a rather tricky proposition. As Hodinkee’s Jack Forster puts it, “as with all of Patek’s high complications and high craft pieces, this is an application piece, price on request. I cannot emphasize enough, however, the degree to which you would be unrealistic in the extreme to expect change back from a million [Swiss francs]”.
While not an exact comparison, a platinum Sky-Moon Tourbillon is currently selling on Chrono24 for just shy of US$3 million. Wahlberg’s is rose gold, a less precious metal, but far more ornate – so there’s no reason to assume it wouldn’t fetch similar prices. If you want one, you better “do the work”, as Wahlberg suggests…