Well, I’ve done my thorough research as this is a very hot topic. Yesterday, I told you about the Patek Philippe Nautilus ‘Olive Green’ ref. 5711/1A-014 that sold for almost half a million dollars —$490,000 USD to be precise— at the Antiquorum auction in Monaco. After my rant about the watch industry and the nonsense going on with regards to the pricing bubble and the lack of inventory from brands like Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Rolex, it’s time to now release some details on who the consigner of the watch seems to be.
Gregory Pau seems to be the son of Priscilla Newman the owner of the now-defunct Patek Philippe authorized dealer and watch boutique The Watch Gallery Barcelona with storefronts in London, U.K., and in Barcelona, Spain. The Watch Gallery celebrated its 30th anniversary in Spain in April of 2018 after being established by Priscilla Newman with the help of Prince Ernst of Hannover who established the London shop in 1985.
The second store in Barcelona came after the success of The Watch Gallery in London. The Watch Gallery Barcelona was an authorized dealer for brands like Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Bell & Ross, Bremont amongst other 20+ Swiss watch brands.
Priscilla Newman was born in London but grew up in Africa in what it is today the Republic of Zimbabwe. At the age of 17, she moved to Ibiza and jet-setted herself until she met Prince Ernst of Hannover who motivated her to open her own watch store. In 1969, Priscilla Newman married a gentleman by the name Eugene de Pau and had a son named Gregory Pau Newman who was born in 1972 just like Gerald Genta’s Royal Oak. In 1989 she divorced Mr. de Pau and went back to her single last name Newman. Gregory Pau Newman her son seems to be based out of London.
Images below: (Top) Priscilla Newman. (Bottom) Priscilla Newman and her daughter-in-law Lee Steinfeldt.
The Watch Gallery Barcelona closed its doors in May of 2021 and its last post on Instagram was on May 5th, 2021. Here’s their Instagram account still open but with no posts after that date.
The Watch Gallery website displays the following message in Spanish: “Muchas gracias a nuestros clientes y amigos por estos maravillosos años juntos. The Watch Gallery ha cerrado por jubilación.” Here’s the translation to English: “Thank you very much to our clients and friends for these marvelous years together. The Watch Gallery has closed for retirement.”
As you can see, all these facts add up nicely. The consigned watch was launched by Patek Philippe on April 8, 2021, and the orders started to get fulfilled a few weeks later. Therefore, it seems like the order of this particular watch was fulfilled right before the doors of The Watch Gallery were closed permanently.
If the Gregory Pau that consigned the olive green Patek Philippe Nautilus ref. 5711/1A-014 to Antiquorum —sold for $490,000 USD— is not the same man as the son of Priscilla Newman the owner of The Watch Gallery Barcelona, then I guess I am fantastic at writing conspiracy theories.
Make your own conclusions if you will.
