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John Lennon’s Patek Watch Resurfaces Years After Suspected

Theft – and It’s One of the World’s Most Valuable Timepieces

FORTUNE – A Patek Philippe watch court’s decision was first reported by
given to John Lennon by his wife Swiss legal blog Gotham City.
Yoko Ono shortly before his assassina- “This is undoubtedly one of the
tion in 1980 has been discovered in most-sought-after watches which the
Geneva, resurfacing after having disap- watch world has been hoping to see,”
peared for years. said Marc Montagne, the author of the
The former Beatle’s timepiece is book Invest in Watches: The Art of
currently in possession of lawyers for Watch Collecting.
an Italian watch collector who bought In 2014, a Geneva company
it from a now-defunct German auc- contacted Ono as it was trying to
tion house, according to official legal set a valuation of the timepiece, which
documents from a Geneva court. Ono had been bought for 600,000 Swiss
had given Lennon the watch for his francs ($672,000) by an Italian watch
40th birthday, and a former driver for collector living in Hong Kong,
the Japanese artist is suspected to have stolen the timepiece long ago. according to the court documents.
The Patek Philippe 2499 perpetual calendar chronograph is at the That set off the legal battle as Ono sued to reclaim what she said was
center of a years-long legal dispute between Lennon’s widow and the her rightful ownership of the Patek. The collector argued that Ono
unidentified watch collector that’s only now coming to light. In June, hadn’t reported the watch stolen and failed to act within three years of
a Geneva court ruled that Ono is the rightful owner of the watch, and the theft, as required by the law in New York state, where she lives, the
the collector is appealing, according to the court documents. documents show.
The missing wristwatch has long been considered a holy grail for col- Lawyers for Ono said the watch could be valued at 4 million francs,
lectors and could be one of the most valuable timepieces in the world. the equivalent of $4.5 million, according to the court filing. Experts,
While the court’s ruling doesn’t mention Lennon nor Ono by however, have suggested the timepiece could be worth a lot more
name, biographical details clearly identify them. The suit mentions her considering the singer’s place in musical and cultural history.
nationality and that he was assassinated in front of his home two Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona fetched $17 million when it was put
months after turning 40. The documents also mention an engraving on on the block in 2017, setting the record price for a wristwatch at auction.
the watch that references a song the couple had “composed together Lennon’s Patek would likely fetch between 5 million francs and 10
after a period of separation.” million francs if it were to come to auction, Montagne said.
The Geneva lawyer representing Ono in the case, Michèle Wassmer, “The provenance, obviously, but also the mystery around the piece
didn’t respond to telephone and email requests for comment. The is a key element,” he said.

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