Virgil Abloh’s Patek 5926 on GQ

[ttk]

How fast did you catch this mistake?




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[dannyp]

Faster than it took the photo to load ;).

It sounds as though Patek made a watch to his design specs; any idea what they used on the case/bracelet to black it out?

[soundserious]

Was it a custom job? Or aftermarket?

[dannyp]

Originally Posted by soundserious

Was it a custom job? Or aftermarket?

There's no way it wasn't a custom job. GQ is basically a giant advertorial, so unless this were a larger feature on Abloh, vs. a small one on celebrity watches, that photo making it in was no accident. And Patek isn't about to endorse the inclusion of one of its watches with an aftermarket case/bracelet coating, dial, hands and day/date wheels (this one has a black background; stock is white).

Says a lot about the man's design work, though. Patek doesn't strike me as the type of company willing to do custom work for just anybody (particularly when it's entirely stylistic, vs. commission of a custom, ultra-complicated piece).

[AK797]

Where are the white stripes, Virgil?

[ttk]

The photo appears to be a blacked out version of a 5726 (see the moon phase on the crappy photo?) but GQ placed it next to a 5980.

https://www.gq.com/story/watches-of-...ek-4-27-19/amp

It was probably done by a 3rd party customizer like MAD Paris or Bamford.

I’m surprise it doesn’t say “time” or “watch” written on it.


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[mnl]

Originally Posted by soundserious

Was it a custom job? Or aftermarket?

Originally Posted by dannyp

There's no way it wasn't a custom job. GQ is basically a giant advertorial, so unless this were a larger feature on Abloh, vs. a small one on celebrity watches, that photo making it in was no accident. And Patek isn't about to endorse the inclusion of one of its watches with an aftermarket case/bracelet coating, dial, hands and day/date wheels (this one has a black background; stock is white).

Says a lot about the man's design work, though. Patek doesn't strike me as the type of company willing to do custom work for just anybody (particularly when it's entirely stylistic, vs. commission of a custom, ultra-complicated piece).

From another article on GQ it sounds like it was made/customized by Mad Paris: https://www.gq.com/story/virgil-abloh-patek-philippe

[mnl]

Originally Posted by ttk

The photo appears to be a blacked out version of a 5726 (see the moon phase on the crappy photo?) but GQ placed it next to a 5980.

https://www.gq.com/story/watches-of-...ek-4-27-19/amp

It was probably done by a 3rd party customizer like MAD Paris or Bamford.

I’m surprise it doesn’t say “time” or “watch” written on it.


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If you look closely it does have the quotes around the PP logo

[dannyp]

Originally Posted by mnl

From another article on GQ it sounds like it was made/customized by Mad Paris: https://www.gq.com/story/virgil-abloh-patek-philippe

It was hard for me to believe. Would have thought that PP had at least some hand in this. But you seem to be right. Also, the MAD guy is a moron; he's already copped to making it on Instagram (which the equally moronic GQ "journalist" should have found):

https://www.instagram.com/p/BoQusFeFX9y/

So much for maintaining whatever NDA was supposedly in place.

I do still wonder if PP handled final assembly, given how many semi-internal parts were replaced (day/date/month/moon phase wheels). That and the photo credit in the article is Patek Philippe, and they wouldn't provide such a photo if they weren't part of the process. Or GQ just mis-credited the photo, which is also possible.

[Gravity]

Many celebs and higher end mod people use these fellows.

https://www.mad-paris.com/en/collections/nautilus-2/

[ttk]

Originally Posted by mnl

If you look closely it does have the quotes around the PP logo

Haha I’m not a fan of blackout watches in general but the quotation marks for Virgil is pretty cool!


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[GB-man]

I doubt patek would make a one off like that for that clown. Just saying. Aftermarket is my bet.

[dannyp]

Originally Posted by GB-man

I doubt patek would make a one off like that for that clown. Just saying. Aftermarket is my bet.

I'm just curious, why do you say "clown" when referring to him? His stuff may not be my taste, but he's among the world's most influential designers today (regardless of the original photo coming from one of his DJ gigs).

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by dannyp

I'm just curious, why do you say "clown" when referring to him? His stuff may not be my taste, but he's among the world's most influential designers today (regardless of the original photo coming from one of his DJ gigs).

Suppose I just associate him with Kanye which is probably not fair.