Patek Philippe 3970E Chronograph

Patek Philippe 3970E Pink Gold Perpetual Calendar Chronograph 1990

We take pride in representing theft victims in their efforts to recover their stolen artworks or watches. Sometimes, the victim is not who you think it is. In this case, we were representing the collector who, in 2019, consigned this $125,000 timepiece for sale at one of the big auction houses. Unfortunately, the watch was withdrawn from sale when it was discovered that it had been registered on the manufacturer's internal database as “stolen” from a collector in Italy.

Three years had passed with no information being made available to the collector on whether his watch would be seized by police or returned. In 2023, Art Recovery International was brought in to resolve the dispute. Within a matter of weeks, ARI met with the manufacturer, their compliance team, and Italian law enforcement to successfully, and unconditionally, resolve the claim.

This rare and important timepiece will soon be offered for sale with no issues.