Sell Your Patek Philippe Watch Offers in 24 Hours, Paid by Osko

The Extract, the Certificate of Origin, and which one you can still get

Patek Philippe is the only one of the seven that publishes a price, an eligibility rule and a turnaround for a document about your own watch. An Extract from the Archives describes "the watch's manufacturing history, through the accurate transcription of its key relevant features and its date of sale". It "can be requested for any Patek Philippe timepiece that was first sold at least ten years ago from the date of the request", it "costs 500 Swiss francs", it "will be sent to you within ten weeks of your order having been confirmed", and the request "can only be made once per year for the same timepiece".

What it is not is a replacement for the papers. Asked how to replace a lost Certificate of Origin, Patek answers: "The Certificate of Origin can unfortunately never be re-issued. Please contact your Official Patek Philippe Retailer from whom you purchased your timepiece for assistance." The Extract describes the watch. It does not restore its documentation.

Patek also declines in writing to tell you what the watch is worth: "Patek Philippe cannot provide information of this kind. We recommend that you contact an auction house or a dealer specialized in selling and buying older timepieces."

One practical consequence, from that same FAQ. "The case back of your timepiece must be removed to see the movement number", the case number "is engraved on the inside of the case back", and removing a case back "should only be performed by an Authorized Retailer or an Authorized Service Center". So do not open yours to answer our questions. Send the reference and photographs, and a watchmaker reads the rest in person when the watch is authenticated, at no cost to you.

Third fastest of the seven, and a ten-year rule worth planning around

A Patek Philippe places third for speed of resale here, behind Rolex and Cartier. That ordering comes out of our own buying and reselling across more than 1,000 watches, it is a judgement rather than a measurement, and it ranks liquidity rather than worth: a Patek outvalues most of what sits above it. Nautilus, Aquanaut, Calatrava and Golden Ellipse references place in a week or two. Dress models and pocket watches take considerably longer, and an offer has to carry that wait. The full order is set out separately.

The reference moves the offer more than anything else, then the Certificate of Origin, the service history, and whether the dial and case are original and unpolished. The ten-year rule is the part worth planning around. On a watch first sold recently there is no Extract available yet, so the Certificate of Origin is the only document that exists for it, and it is the one document that can never be replaced. Keep it somewhere you will find it. On an older watch an Extract is a real option, and better ordered before you go to market than after you have accepted an offer.

Patek lists four Australian points of sale on its own points of sale page: two in Sydney, one in Melbourne and one in Brisbane, with none in Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart or Darwin. Your watch does not need to be near one to sell and we buy nationwide. It does mean that outside those three cities there are fewer people to take a second opinion from, and a second opinion is worth having before you accept ours. Start with a free valuation.