Watch Paparazzi

Singer Ed Sheeran spotted wearing Patek Philippe

Ed Sheeran arrived at the MTV Video Music Awards wearing what may be the most historically significant watch ever spotted at the ceremony — a 1940s Patek Philippe Reference 1518 in 18K yellow gold, a perpetual calendar chronograph that predates rock and roll itself and helped define what a complicated wristwatch could be.

Launched in 1941 and produced until 1954, the Patek Philippe Ref. 1518 was the world's first wristwatch to combine a perpetual calendar with a chronograph in serial production. The movement powering it is the caliber 13'''130 — a column-wheel chronograph base developed in collaboration with Lémania, to which Patek's own perpetual calendar module was grafted with characteristic Geneva precision. The 35mm yellow gold case houses a dial that, depending on the specific variant, can display hours, minutes, small seconds, date, day, month, and moon phase — all self-correcting through February 28th of a leap year. Fewer than 281 examples are believed to have been produced across yellow gold, pink gold, and the near-mythical stainless steel variants.

Among serious collectors, the Ref. 1518 occupies a position just below the Ref. 2499 in the Patek perpetual calendar chronograph dynasty — but its 1941 debut gives it an undeniable primacy argument. Yellow gold examples, while the most produced of the metal variants, still appear rarely at auction and command immediate, intense attention when they do. The condition of dial and case, originality of components, and provenance documentation drive price spread significantly within the reference.

Sheeran has built a quietly serious watch collection over the years, with documented Patek Philippe and independent watchmaker pieces appearing across his public appearances. Wearing a Ref. 1518 — rather than a contemporary grand complication — signals genuine collector sensibility. This is not a watch chosen for a red carpet; it is a watch worn because its owner understands what it represents.

At auction, yellow gold Patek Philippe Ref. 1518 examples in strong condition have regularly cleared the $300,000–$500,000 range in recent years, with exceptional dial variants or documented provenance pushing considerably higher. The figure reported for Sheeran's example — approximately $415,000 — sits squarely within the current market reality for a clean, original specimen, and underscores why the 1518 remains one of the most coveted vintage references in existence.