LEGENDARY FAVOURITES

Some things – skinny ties from the 1960s not included – really do get better with age. That’s especially true for wine, of course, but other luxury objets take to the maturation process with equal enthusiasm, as long as they’re well-made and well-preserved. A 1953 Patek Philippe Ref 2523, for instance, sprung out of a private collector’s vault and fetched US$7.7 million at Phillips in May. It was made in the same year as another coveted item: Château Mouton Rothschild’s centenary bottle, one of which sold for US$2,000 at auction last October. So which of these two has aged more gracefully – and which is starting to show a few grey hairs?