Watch Paparazzi

Singer Ed Sheeran spotted wearing Patek Philippe

Ed Sheeran was recently photographed wearing a Patek Philippe Nautilus Perpetual Calendar in 18k white gold, reference 5740G-001, with a confirmed Tiffany & Co. retailer stamp on the dial — a detail that separates this particular example from an already exceptional watch and places it firmly in the upper echelon of contemporary collector pieces.

The Patek Philippe Nautilus 5740G debuted in 2018 as a celebration of the Nautilus line's 40th anniversary and represented a genuine engineering achievement. Fitting a perpetual calendar mechanism — displaying date, day, month, leap year, and moon phase — into a case measuring just 8.42mm thick demanded Patek's in-house caliber 240 Q, an ultra-thin self-winding movement with a peripheral rotor. The 40mm white gold case retains all the hallmarks of Gerald Genta's original 1976 design: the horizontally embossed dial, porthole-style bezel with integrated lugs, and the tapering bracelet that defined integrated-bracelet watchmaking.

The Nautilus 5740G was discontinued by Patek Philippe in 2021 alongside the steel 5711, a strategic withdrawal that immediately hardened collector demand and sent grey-market values into the stratosphere. White gold production was always limited relative to the steel variant, and examples bearing a Tiffany & Co. co-branded dial — the result of the historic retail partnership between the two houses — represent a fraction of total output. Tiffany-stamped Patek dials became a mainstream collector obsession after a Tiffany-dial Nautilus 5711 achieved $6.5 million at Phillips in 2021, reframing the co-branding as a serious value driver rather than a cosmetic footnote.

Ed Sheeran has demonstrated genuine horological taste over the years, building a collection that extends well beyond the obvious luxury signifiers. Choosing the 5740G — a watch that rewards technical understanding as much as aesthetic appreciation — signals informed collecting rather than impulse buying at the top of the market.

At list price the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5740G carried a retail figure of approximately $151,400, but the combination of discontinuation, white gold scarcity, and the Tiffany & Co. stamp has pushed current grey-market valuations to roughly $515,000 — more than triple retail and a figure that reflects just how irreplaceable this specific configuration has become.