Royal Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim spotted wearing a Patek Philippe

The Crown Prince of Johor, General Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim — widely known as TMJ — was photographed wearing the Patek Philippe Aquanaut 'Singapore Edition' reference 5167A-012, the limited-run sports watch Patek produced to commemorate its landmark Watch-Art Grand Exhibition held in Singapore in October 2019. For a royal whose Instagram feed doubles as one of the region's most closely watched horological dispatches, the choice is loaded with significance.

The 5167A-012 shares its core architecture with the standard Aquanaut 5167A-001 — a 40mm stainless steel case, sapphire caseback, 120-metre water resistance, and the self-winding calibre 324 S C movement beating at 28,800 vph with a 45-hour power reserve. What distinguishes the Singapore Edition is its vivid red composite strap and matching red-toned dial details, a deliberate nod to the dominant colour of the Singaporean flag. The embossed «tropical» dial pattern, a hallmark of the Aquanaut line since its 1997 debut, appears here in a darker execution that contrasts sharply against the red rubber.

Production was capped at 500 numbered pieces, distributed exclusively through Patek Philippe's Singapore retail network during and immediately after the Watch-Art Exhibition — one of the most elaborate brand events in modern watchmaking history, spanning over 3,000 square metres at the Marina Bay Sands. The edition sits within a broader Patek tradition of producing geographically exclusive Aquanaut variants for major exhibitions, each of which has subsequently appreciated well beyond its original retail price.

TMJ is not a casual watch wearer. The Crown Prince has publicly displayed references ranging from complicated Pateks to independent brands, and his watch choices are frequently dissected by collectors across Southeast Asia. Wearing the 5167A-012 carries a pointed regional resonance — Johor and Singapore share a land border and centuries of intertwined history, lending the piece a layer of diplomatic and cultural symbolism beyond its collector appeal.

On the secondary market, the Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5167A-012 commands a significant premium over its original retail price of approximately £17,500 (roughly $21,500 USD at launch). Grey-market values have settled in a range that reflects both the Aquanaut's sustained global demand and the scarcity of any geographically restricted Patek edition — making this one of the more defensible limited-run sports watch investments of the past five years.