The Jay-Z Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon pairing made its latest appearance this week, when Jay-Z wore one of watchmaking’s most complex and scarce wristwatches courtside at the NBA Finals in Madison Square Garden. Not just any example, either: the piece on his wrist appears to be a pièce unique ref. 5002G-010 in white gold with a black dial and red numerals, which sold at Phillips in Hong Kong in November of 2019 for $2.3M.
Jay-Z Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon: What Makes This Watch Different
The Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon ref. 5002 was the maison’s most complicated wristwatch when it launched in 2001, and also its first double-sided wristwatch. At 42.8mm in diameter, it carries no fewer than a dozen functions: a tourbillon, a retrograde perpetual calendar, a minute repeater, and, on the caseback dial, a celestial chart depicting the northern hemisphere. By today’s standards, that information sits in your pocket on a smartphone. In 2001, it meant spending a million dollars on a mechanical wristwatch.
The ref. 5002 was produced in white gold, yellow gold, rose gold, and platinum, with an estimated 80 to 100 examples made in total. Of those, roughly 30 are known to collectors. Production began at just two examples per year, eventually increasing to 10 over a 12-year run. No recorded example has sold for less than $1M, with some fetching roughly $1.5M. The Jay-Z Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon example, however, eclipses all of those figures at $2.3M, reflecting its status as a unique commission.
Patek did produce special-order variants of the 5002 beyond the standard production metals, including a unique version in titanium and an example with a ribbed caseband in place of the familiar Calatrava motif. Jay-Z is also a known collector of the ref. 6002, the Sky Moon Tourbillon’s successor.
The Rest of the Courtside Watch Haul
With the Knicks hosting their first Finals game in 27 years, the front row was never going to be short of interesting wristwear. Courtside seats reportedly started at $130,000, a figure that tends to concentrate a certain calibre of watch collection in a small area of floor space.
Knicks guard Josh Hart went with the Pioneer Center Seconds Spiced Aqua from H. Moser & Cie: done out in Knicks blue and orange on a white rubber strap, with a DLC-coated steel case and the HMC 201 automatic movement providing 72 hours of power reserve. A time-only watch, but one with a deliberately playful character to match a tunnel fit.
Fat Joe’s evening at game three had a different kind of drama. London Jewelers vice president Scott Udell, with DJ Khaled present, presented him courtside with a Rolex Day-Date ‘Emoji Puzzle’, a jigsaw puzzle-motif dial in colourful champlevé enamel with a date complication whose numerals have been replaced by emojis: a four-leaf clover, a sleeping face, an eight ball, and a heart. The yellow-gold version is said to trade for over a quarter of a million dollars, making it perhaps the most expensive courtside watch transaction the NBA Finals has seen on record.
Over at Roland Garros, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea turned up to the French Open wearing an F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain: a boutique edition in 18K 6N gold with a black dial, white main time subdial, power reserve indicator, sub-seconds display, and a prominent tourbillon at 9 o’clock. F.P. Journe withheld its novelties from the press this year, citing concern over collectors being unable to secure one, which gives some context to how the brand’s pieces are currently regarded.
Brad Pitt brought the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Self-Winding Ultra-Thin to the same occasion: a platinum-cased automatic measuring just 7.35mm tall, with a salmon dial and integrated bracelet, listed at $185,000. A serious piece of horology, even if it was somewhat overshadowed by what Flea had on his wrist.
None of it, though, comes close to what Jay-Z strapped on at the Garden. A $2.3M pièce unique of one of Patek Philippe’s most limited and complex references, worn to watch basketball, is the kind of statement that needs no further commentary.
