It is sometimes described as the most beautiful watch, a gift from Yoko Ono to John Lennon shortly before his assassination. The highest Swiss judicial body has definitively established that the artist and widow of the ex-Beatles was the rightful owner.
The timepiece in question is as precious and rare as its history is unique and eventful.
We have to go back to October 9, 1980 and John Lennon’s fortieth birthday.
Yoko Ono then gave him this Patek Philippe in yellow gold model 2499 with “(JUST LIKE) STARTING OVER LOVE YOKO 10-9-1980 NYC” engraved on the back.
A chronograph with a perpetual calendar. A great complication that the most prestigious Geneva watchmaker was the only one able to fit into a wristwatch for decades.
Two months later, John is murdered by an insane person.
The watch was then stored in a room in the Dakota apartment where Yoko Ono lived and it was only when the object appeared in Geneva years later that she realized that it had disappeared.
A Geneva court will establish in 2023 that the watch was taken by its private driver from whom it separated after an extortion attempt.
After quite a few twists and turns, the Patek Philippe was then handed over to a German auction house. This is where the appeal to the Swiss Federal Court, an Italian collector, bought it in 2014 for 600,000 euros.
The same year, he entrusted it to a Geneva auction house in order to obtain an estimate.
It is this company which will contact Yoko Ono and a legal battle ensues between the widow of John Lennon and the collector who considers himself to be the legitimate owner.
The Court of First Instance and then the Court of Justice of the Canton of Geneva ruled that Yoko Ono was the sole legitimate owner of the watch.
The Federal Court confirms, according to the judgment published Thursday.
According to the highest Swiss legal authority, since the watch was stolen, the appellant could not legitimately acquire ownership of it. According to the German law applicable in the matter, the good faith of the buyer as to the origin of the object plays no role, specifies the Federal Court in the judgment.
But where is the watch now?
According to the online magazine Gotham City, it was in 2023, “in the custody and escrow” of the collector’s lawyer and was to remain there until the rightful owner was definitively established. She will therefore return to Yoko Ono.
