Editor’s Note
This article explores the frenzy surrounding a limited-edition Patek Philippe watch with Tiffany’s signature blue dial, highlighting the intense demand and exclusive clientele it attracted.
Tiffany salespeople called them the “watch monsters.” The obsessives. The wealthy shoppers who were sure they should be among the chosen few to get their hands on a rare timepiece from Patek Philippe.
They descended on Tiffany & Co. a few years ago, when the retailer began offering a limited edition Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 with a dial in the jeweller’s signature robin’s-egg blue. Patek crafted 170 of them, a tribute to the number of years the brands had worked together. Tiffany’s hope was that the buzzy timepiece would help attract – and retain – high-end shoppers who weren’t already regular customers.
Yet the Blue Dial — as it became known — was never for sale in the traditional sense. Demand was so high that Tiffany executives, including Americas head Christopher Kilaniotis, realised clients would be willing to spend millions of dollars on other jewellery for the chance to buy the coveted watch, which was priced at $52,635. Salespeople were instructed to guide top prospects toward spending $2 million to $3 million, according to people familiar with the sales strategy. No official waitlist. No guarantees.
When the Blue Dial arrived, wealthy shoppers’ desire for luxury watches was in overdrive in the midst of a pandemic-era buying mania. It instantly became one of the most talked-about objects in the luxury world.
For Tiffany, the timing was opportune. The jeweller was barely a year into its new era under LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, which bought it for $16 billion in 2021. The largest luxury acquisition on record underscored the outsized ambitions that LVMH had for Tiffany, a beloved American brand that had nonetheless become a bit tired. Tiffany sales rose 4 percent in the five years through January 2020, down from a nearly 60 percent spike during the prior half decade, Bloomberg data show.
But what began as a celebration of the iconic jeweller and watchmaker has evolved into a cautionary tale — a lesson in how exclusivity, if mishandled, can dim the glow of luxury.
Since the Blue Dial’s release, Patek Philippe shut three of its four boutiques in Tiffany stores in the midst of a broader consolidation. Tiffany’s fractured relationship with one of the world’s most beloved watchmakers drags on revenue to this day and is one reason why salespeople have struggled to meet ambitious monthly targets at stores where Patek closed its boutiques, according to several people familiar with the situation.
The details of how Tiffany angered many within a passionate community of watch lovers haven’t been previously reported and are based on interviews with nearly two dozen people familiar with what happened who asked not to be identified discussing private matters.
Tiffany’s press office declined to comment, while Kilaniotis and Tiffany chief executive officer Anthony Ledru didn’t respond to requests for comment. LVMH has recently told analysts and investors that the changes being implemented at Tiffany, including a focus on selling its high-end Icons collection and lavish store renovations, are paying off.
Tiffany is the largest contributor to LVMH’s jewellery and watches division, which also includes brands such as Bulgari and Tag Heuer. When LVMH reports earnings on July 24, analysts surveyed by Bloomberg forecast the division will show a 1 percent revenue decline in the most recent quarter from a year earlier.
Patek declined to comment on its relationship with Tiffany or the sale of its watches.
In a December 2021 interview with the New York Times, Patek President Thierry Stern seemed to foreshadow the issues that were to come. Tiffany executives, he said, “may not realise how difficult it’s going to be to choose the clients” to purchase the Blue Dial.
The business logic of the jewellery-sales plan was straightforward for Tiffany: If even two-thirds of the Blue Dials unlocked $2.5 million in jewellery sales apiece, Tiffany stood to generate almost $300 million. Salespeople stood to make commissions of as much as $100,000 on such transactions.
When the frenzy started, some former Tiffany staffers said they were instructed by executives to avoid putting the unofficial quid pro quo in writing, to avoid giving clients the impression that purchasing jewellery guaranteed a Blue Dial. The allocation was at the discretion of Tiffany executives, and the process was all over the place, these people said.
And that’s why it was so bad from a client relations perspective, they said. For some “watch monsters” — as some in the salesforce came to call the most aggressive would-be customers — the glittering prize proved elusive. They spent princely sums on Tiffany jewellery only to come away empty-handed, according to former staff. Other long-time Tiffany and Patek customers told employees they were resentful that their purchases over the years seemingly counted for nothing. And even some buyers who snagged a Blue Dial became irate when the watches began to show up on the resale market, selling for less and less.
In November 2023, one client sued Tiffany over issues with the sale of almost $4 million in jewellery, alleging in court documents that she never received a custom-made, yellow-diamond necklace the company said it would deliver.
While the Blue Dial wasn’t mentioned in the legal filings, people familiar with the matter say the customer purchased the jewellery in part to acquire the watch, which she ultimately received. She and Tiffany settled in August. The client and her lawyers didn’t respond to requests to comment.
