Turquoise is the Color of Money

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Turquoise is the Color of Money - Turquoise Dial
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Things have become so intense with the Patek Philippe Tiffany that other turquoise watches are getting a boost, even though this is a weird color for a watch. When will the crazy stop ?

The range of colors used in watchmaking has grown dramatically over the past ten years. When blue became the it-color, and before green took over, the white/gray/black triumvirate came to an end. Since then, new hues have kept popping up. The entire rainbow and beyond are now needed to fill dials : chocolate, fumé, gradient of all colors, shades of red, flashy orange and every other unlikely variation. You'll have to agree that demand for such exotic colors cannot be that large. You need to own at least twelve watches to feel the need to buy a purple one, right ?

 

Turquoise is the color of money

So the dial palette had become wide, but it had never sparked insanity, boosted resell value or blown up a waiting list. That's when the Patek Philippe Tiffany ref. 5711/1A-018 with Tiffany-blue (i.e. turquoise) dial came up. For those who don't read the Horological Review of Mental Illness that's become the watch resell market, one of those sold for $6,503,000 at a Philips auction in New York, on December 11th 2021. That's about 200 times its retail price. 

Turquoise is the color of money

The internet caught fire. Memes sprouted faster than coffee shops in a gentrified neighborhood. It proved everyone right : those who denounce speculative watches and those who live off of them, and want to promote them ever further 

But this time, it was contagious. The fever spread to other turquoise watches. This color, even though unloved, marginal, absolutely not for everyone, is getting its moment under the spotlight. The typical example is the Rolex Oyster Perpetual, mainly the 41 mm ref. 124300. It now resells for 3 to 5 times as much as any other color in the range. Yes, 300% to 500 % more. And it's not even turquoise, it's baby blue !

Turquoise is the color of money

And then reinfection occurred with the Patek Philippe Nautilus Perpetual Calendar Tiffany, a turquoise-blue unique piece seen on the wrist of LVMH big boss Bernard Arnault. And the memes went wild again with speculation that the latter was going to acquire the former... some guys are really trigger happy with wild deductions, conspiracy-theory-style. 

Turquoise blue is the omicron variant of watchmaking. It spreads like wildfire. Patek Philippe is patient zero. Symptoms include purchasing fever, loss of mathematical ability, severe common sense alterations, aggravated color blindness. Oh Dear, how many lagoon-type watches are we gonna have to endure in 2022 ? 

Turquoise is the color of money

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