Watch Paparazzi

Entrepreneur Steven Zhang spotted wearing Patek Philippe

Steven Zhang, the entrepreneur and chairman of Inter Milan football club, has been photographed wearing one of the most sought-after wristwatches in the post-2000 Patek Philippe catalogue — the reference 5004A, a stainless steel split-seconds chronograph with perpetual calendar. The sighting immediately caught the attention of collectors, not least because the 5004A is not a watch you stumble upon casually.

The Patek Philippe 5004 was introduced in 1996 as the manufacture's first wristwatch to combine a rattrapante — or split-seconds — chronograph with a perpetual calendar. Powered by the hand-wound calibre CHR 27-70Q, itself derived from the legendary Victorin Piguet lever-set movement, the 5004 measures elapsed time to split-second precision while simultaneously tracking date, day, month, leap year cycle, and moon phase. The case diameter of 36.5mm reads modest by contemporary standards but wears with authority, housing one of the most mechanically complex movements ever fitted to a Patek wristwatch.

After approximately fifteen years in production — across yellow gold, white gold, rose gold, and platinum variants — Patek Philippe retired the reference around 2010-2011. The stainless steel 5004A was released as a definitive closing chapter, distinguishable by its cream/white dial with applied indices rather than the baton-style markers found on precious metal versions. Steel Patek grand complications are historically restricted in quantity, often reserved for institutional clients or produced to mark specific occasions, which places the 5004A in an extremely rarefied category even within the broader 5004 family.

For serious collectors, the 5004A occupies a position similar to the steel 2499 or the steel 1518 — a metal choice that transforms an already exceptional complication into a generational grail. Its auction record reflects this status, with examples regularly achieving multiples of any precious metal counterpart.

Steven Zhang's ownership of the 5004A suggests a collector with genuine depth of knowledge. The Inter Milan president has previously been photographed with high-end timepieces, but the 5004A is a different conversation entirely. On the secondary market, steel examples of the Patek Philippe 5004A trade well into six-figure territory, with condition, box, and papers defining the ceiling. Retail pricing during production was never publicly fixed for this variant, but current grey market valuations comfortably exceed $500,000 for clean examples.