Phillips continues white-glove auction streak which sees all lots go under the hammer, without exception.

 

The big three auction houses — Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo, Sotheby's, and Christie's — each held an auction in the month of June, marking the beginning of summer auction season. Summer is traditionally off-season for the entire watch business, including the pre-owned watch market.

 

Yet that's not the case in the current rather difficult period for manufacturers of luxury accessories and those who invest in them.All three auctions were held in what you could call the traditional location of New York.

 

These American auctions can't be compared to auctions in Geneva, or even the Hong Kong auctions, which have experienced significant growth in recent years. Nevertheless, there was one extremely interesting lot which caught the attention of collectors from all over the world.

Yet Another Record for Phillips

 

We're talking about the pocket watch with a tourbillon and perpetual calendar by the modern British watchmaker Roger W. Smith: Pocket Watch Number 2. Its movement is equipped with what is now an extremely rare spring détent escapement.

 

It's practically a stationary marine chronometer. It became the top lot at the New York Watch Auction: EIGHT, held by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo on June 10-11.

 

Roger Smith in his Workshop on the Isle of Man, 1990s / Source: Roger Smith
Roger Smith in his Workshop on the Isle of Man, 1990s / Source: Roger Smith

This watch is remarkable in that each and every one of its components was made by Roger W. Smith's own hands. Each screw was cut and blued, each spring was snipped from a coil of wire, wound and soldered by hand, while the glass was heated, blown, shaped and polished at the watchmaker's workshop in Bolton.

 

Smith even made the case himself. He remade the watch five times in total, tempering and refining each individual element up to eleven times to fit and increase timekeeping precision.

 

Roger Smith Pocket Watch Two / Sourse: www.phillips.com
Roger Smith Pocket Watch Two / Sourse: www.phillips.com

Only then did top British watchmaker at the time George Daniels inspect the watch and finally say: "Congratulations, you are now a watchmaker." Smith's luck didn't end there. By the way, he only ever made three pocket watches.

 

The first was critiqued by George Daniels, disassembled, and the movement is now kept in Smith's workshop. The third is a jewel in the collection of one lucky collector. The second has appeared at auction for the first time. 

 

Bidding for this lot was intense, albeit short-lived: one very persistent bidder whose interests were represented at the auction over a phone held by none other than Paul Boutros, the Deputy Chairman and Head of Watches, Americas for Phillip.

 

The increments in the bidding process were fairly large, steep steps, and when the price reached USD 4.9 million, the auctioneer Aurel Bacs wielding the hammer banged it down three times. Robert W. Smith, who was in attendance, turned red and cracked a sheepish smile. No wonder, given the estimate had been set in excess of one million dollars.

 

Roger Smith Series 1 No. 1
Roger Smith Series 1 No. 1
Roger Smith Model Series 2 Open Dial
Roger Smith Model Series 2 Open Dial

Roger Smith's Pocket Watch Number 2 played and continues to play a defining role in the watchmaker's life. Smith sold his second pocket watch when he needed the money to set up his eponymous brand and finance his Series 2 wristwatch.

 

Overall, his name is growing more expensive at a dramatic rate. A year and a half ago in December 2021, his first wristwatch in a pink-gold case called the Roger Smith Series 1 No. 1 was auctioned off in New York for USD 730,800.

 

His second wristwatch with an openworked dial called Roger Smith Model Series 2 Open Dial was bought at the same auction in New York in June last year, this time for USD 840,700. And now his work is almost five times more expensive. 

 

The other places in the top ten were shared more or less evenly. There were three models by Patek Philippe (two watches with enamel dials and the Advanced Research Aquanaut Travel Time Ref. 5650G-001).

Advanced Research was the first concept watch in the watchmaker's history to feature a balance spring made of the patented material silicon-based material called Silinvar. There were also three pieces by F. P. Journe (two tourbillons with "remontoir d'egalité" constant force mechanisms, and a chronometer that sold for around half a million dollars).

 

Apart from the pieces by these two watchmakers, brilliant results were achieved by the simple model in fourth place: Philippe Dufour Simplicity 37, sold for USD 863,600. The same can be said of another pocket watch in platinum: Audemars Piguet Grande Complication Pocket Watch Ref. 25701PT with a minute repeater, perpetual calendar and split-seconds chronograph. It sold for USD 635,000, taking sixth place. 

 

At the same time, the models by Patek Philippe with enamel dials transcended the symbolic milestone of one million dollars. The sum paid for the Ref. 2481 "Pristine Forest" from 1952 was USD 1,117,600, and the sum shelled out for last year's sensational Ref. 5531R-012 watch with world time and a minute repeater was USD 1,016,000, which is around 300 thousand dollars greater than the original retail price.

 

Philippe Dufour Simplicity 37 / Sourse: www.phillips.com
Philippe Dufour Simplicity 37 / Sourse: www.phillips.com
Audemars Piguet Grande Complication Ref. 25701 PT / Sourse: www.phillips.com
Audemars Piguet Grande Complication Ref. 25701 PT / Sourse: www.phillips.com

A third of a million dollars is an impressive annual increase on investment. And finally, it's worth mentioning the decent result achieved by a very rare and extremely well-preserved steel chronograph: Rolex Daytona "Paul Newman" Ref. 6241. It sold for USD 635,000 to take fifth place, while last year's Daytona Rainbow Ref. 116595RBOW sold for USD 444,500 to secure eleventh place.

 

As for the newcomers that made the top ten, it's worth highlighting one which was more or less memorable for the surprising result achieved: the platinum Cartier Tank Crash Ref. 3740 from 2014, which sold for USD 279,400. Moreover, white-gold and yellow-gold versions with this typical Tank dial, if the word "typical" can even be used to refer to such a watch, realized decent sales of USD 120,650 and USD 107,950, respectively.

 

Rolex Daytona "Paul Newman" Ref. 6241 / Sourse: www.phillips.com
Rolex Daytona "Paul Newman" Ref. 6241 / Sourse: www.phillips.com
Cartier Tank Crash Ref. 3740 / Sourse: www.phillips.com
Cartier Tank Crash Ref. 3740 / Sourse: www.phillips.com
Patek Philippe "Pristine Forest" Ref. 2481 / Sourse: www.phillips.com
Patek Philippe "Pristine Forest" Ref. 2481 / Sourse: www.phillips.com

These results could lead you to believe that the iconic Parisian watchmaker has finally begun implementing a sensible auction policy on the pre-owned watch market, and that's why a second Tank Crash has significantly beaten its pre-auction estimate.

 

But it's still too early to be drawing these kinds of conclusions. After all, it is still a truly iconic model. But the yellow-gold monopusher chronograph by Daniel Roth given an estimate of USD 25,000 – 50,000 which sold for USD 76,200 supports our hypothesis about LVMH, which we expect will hype interest in this brand over the course of the year.

 

That means now is the perfect time for those who own a watch by this watchmaker to sell up before it's too late. Overall, Phillips sold all 138 lots listed for auction in yet another episode of their white-glove series.

Sotheby's and Christie's Without Sensations or Straps

 

Against the backdrop of Phillips, the results of the other two large auction houses are unimpressive to say the least. For instance, the top lot at Christie's Important Watсhes (June 6) was the minute repeating perpetual calendar Patek Philippe Ref. 5074J-001 "Cathedral" from 2002, which sold for USD 403,200.

 

After all, this is a rare watch which was only in production for four years, and no more than thirty pieces were made. Maybe it just wasn't their day. The sale of this watch only stood out for one reason.

 

Patek Philippe Ref. 5074J-001 / Sourse: www.christies.com
Patek Philippe Ref. 5074J-001 / Sourse: www.christies.com

Christie’s  has clearly come under pressure from environmentalists and animal welfare campaigners, so the auction house has begun accompanying notable lots with a special notice:

 

"This watch is pictured with straps made of endangered or protected animal materials such as alligator or crocodile. These endangered species straps are shown for display purposes only and are not for sale. Christie's will remove and retain the strap prior to shipment from the sale site.

 

At some sale sites, Christie's may, at its discretion, make the displayed endangered species strap available to the buyer of the lot free of charge if collected in person from the sale site within 1 year of the date of the auction. Please check with the department for details on a particular lot."

 

To put it another way, Christie's no longer auctions off straps made of rare animal skins. No comment. Second place at Christie's Important Watсhes was occupied by a rare (non-Daytona) steel chronograph with a triple calendar: Rolex Ref. 6236 "Jean-Claude Killy" circa 1960.

 

It sold for USD 264,600. Third place went to a freshly minted steel Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5711/1A-014 with a green dial, which fetched USD 252,000.

 

Meanwhile, the most expensive lot at Sotheby's Fine Watches, which closed on June 15, was the resonance chronometer F. P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance manufactured in 2002, which only raised a mere USD 254,000.

 

Patek Philippe Ref. 3970E / Sourse: www.sothebys.com
Patek Philippe Ref. 3970E / Sourse: www.sothebys.com
F. P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance / Sourse: www.sothebys.com
F. P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance / Sourse: www.sothebys.com
Patek Philippe Ref. 5131J World Time / Sourse: www.sothebys.com
Patek Philippe Ref. 5131J World Time / Sourse: www.sothebys.com

It was joined in the top three by the perpetual calendar chronograph Patek Philippe Ref. 3970E circa 1995 in white gold with diamond markers on its black dial (USD 107,950), and the Patek Philippe Ref. 5131J World Time circa 2011 in yellow gold sporting a dial decorated with cloisonné enamel (USD 101,600).