I bet you thought Tom Brady had run out of killer watches for us to cover, didn’t you?
Wrong.
Making an appearance at the NFC Divisional Playoff game between the Washington Commanders and the Detroit Lions, the seven-time Super Bowl champ (and Fox Sports commentator) accessorized his three-piece suit with a black-dialed Patek Philippe Aquanaut. And while this might look like an “entry-level” Patek—the stainless steel, black-dialed reference 5167A-001 retails for “just” $24,750—take a closer look at the dial. That’s right: It’s Tiffany-stamped. But what does this mean?
Established in 1837, Tiffany & Co.—now owned by LVMH—is not only America’s most famed jeweler, but also Patek Philippe’s oldest retail partner. Antoine Norbert de Patek met with Charles Tiffany for dinner in New York way back in 1851, signing an exclusive distribution agreement in 1876. Tiffany & Co. was one of just a few retailers allowed to double-stamp Patek timepieces on its own, resulting in some of the world’s most coveted watches. Heavily pursued by collectors, a Tiffany “stamp” can increase the value of an otherwise “normal” Patek Philippe wristwatch by tens (or hundreds) of thousands of dollars.
Not that the Aquanaut needs much help. Introduced in 1997 as a slightly more affordable take on the brand’s own Nautilus luxury sports watch, it took some time to catch on. However, in its nearly 30-year run, it’s captured the hearts of collectors worldwide for its design language reminiscent of Gerald Genta, who created the Nautilus and other luxury-sport pieces like the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. The Aquanaut has all the hallmarks of a high-end sports piece: rugged rubber strap, cool embossed dial, and playful mix of beautiful finishing with more utilitarian, almost mil-spec typography and indices. And while its sub-$30K time-and-date pricing may represent the lower end of the Patek’s catalog, this by no means indicates that the Aquanaut is an easy buy. As with all things Patek, one must be patient.
Combine the cool, black-dialed, time-and-date ref. 5167A-001 with a Tiffany stamp and oh boy—now we’re talking about a watch that you need a last name like “Brady” in order to buy. (At least at retail—if you’ve got a spare $100,000+ burning a hole in your pocket, you could probably pick one up secondhand.) Because while many of the double-signed Pateks floating around—and there aren’t that many of them—stem from Patek’s more formal Calatrava and Complications collection, Brady’s Tiffany-stamped Aquanaut is something much more playful. A steel sports watch from the world’s best Swiss watchmaker retailed by America’s oldest—now French-owned—jeweler? This is the stuff auction catalog dreams are made of, people—you know, just in case, Brady decides to dip back into that well.
Rege-Jean Page’s Chopard L.U.C Quattro
English actor and Bridgerton heartthrob Rege-Jean Page won the unofficial “Best Coat Ever” award at the Dunhill show during Milan Fashion Week Men’s this week, and his accessories were trophy-worthy, too. On his wrist is the excellent Chopard L.U.C. Quattro. Housed in a 43mm platinum case with a signed crown and a polished bezel, it features a gorgeous blue-grey sunburst dial with applied Roman-numeral indices, a nine-day power reserve indicator at 12 o’clock, and a running-seconds/date indicator above 6 o’clock. The “Quattro” name comes from the impressive, beautifully finished hand-wound movement: It’s got four barrels to provide over a week’s worth of power reserve.
