Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5968A-001 sold for CNY 950,000 — Hangzhou watch buy-back case, August 2026

On the day Mr Chen came into the Hangzhou boutique, he set a 5968A-001 on the counter. He had asked several channels already and the offers on the same watch were some way apart, so the first thing he asked once he sat down was not what it would sell for but what the figure was worked out from. Whether the offer is formed by more than one bidder, whether the authentication cross-check is finished before signing, and whether anything is charged if no sale happens — he wanted a clear answer on all three.

Mr Chen’s watch was bought at CNY 950,000, with three things holding the price up. The material is stainless steel, and within the line secondary demand for the steel case has consistently outrun the precious-metal versions. The complication is a flyback chronograph, and chronographs are made in smaller numbers than the base three-handers, so the float in circulation is smaller. The dial is the charcoal-black sunburst gradient specific to the 5968A, different from the midnight blue on the white gold version.

Of those three variables, the material sets the floor, the complication sets where it sits within the line, and the dial sets how many buyers will accept it. At 42.2mm the case falls in the normal range for a sports reference, so the size is no mark against it.

The offer was not ours alone to make. Once the watch passed inspection it went onto the bidding platform, trade buyers across the country bid in the same window, the offer sheet was opened to Mr Chen line by line, and which one to take was his to choose. Patek Philippe is one of the core categories in watch buy-back; prices are assessed piece by piece against the market at the time and bear no relation to the original purchase price. (Market figures reflect publicly available data.)