Watch Paparazzi

Royal Mohammed Vi spotted wearing Patek Philippe

King Mohammed VI of Morocco, one of the world's wealthiest and longest-reigning monarchs, was recently spotted wearing one of the most coveted complications in the Patek Philippe Nautilus family — the reference 5980/1400G, a diamond-set white gold flyback chronograph that occupies a rarefied space even within Patek's own catalogue.

The Patek Philippe Nautilus 5980/1400G is built around the manufacture's Calibre CH 28-520 C, a self-winding flyback chronograph movement featuring a column wheel and horizontal clutch — the architecture of choice for serious complications. The movement delivers a 45-hour power reserve and beats at 28,800 vph. The 40.5mm white gold case follows the distinctive octagonal bezel and integrated bracelet architecture conceived by Gerald Genta in 1976, but here the entire bezel and lugs are lavishly set with baguette and brilliant-cut diamonds, transforming a sports reference into something unambiguously grand. The two-register dial, in Patek's characteristic horizontal embossed pattern, anchors the piece in Nautilus DNA while the diamond surround signals an entirely different register of intent.

The 5980 series, introduced in 2006 to mark the Nautilus's 30th anniversary, was the first Nautilus chronograph and immediately claimed collector attention. The 1400G suffix designates the full diamond-set white gold configuration — among the most limited and sought-after variants in the entire 5980 family. Very few examples exist in the secondary market at any given time, and auction appearances routinely generate exceptional results. The £480,000 auction figure attached to this sighting is consistent with documented hammer prices for comparable examples.

Mohammed VI has long been associated with horological connoisseurship befitting his status as head of the Alaoui dynasty, one of the Arab world's oldest royal houses. His watch selections tend toward the extraordinary rather than the merely expensive — a distinction this Patek Philippe Nautilus 5980/1400G makes abundantly clear.

On the market, diamond-set references like the 5980/1400G operate well beyond standard grey-market dynamics. Retail pricing, when available through authorized channels, has historically exceeded $250,000 USD, but the genuine scarcity of the piece means auction remains the dominant transaction venue. Collectors targeting this reference should expect significant premiums over any published list figure, with condition, box, and papers critical to final valuation.