Geneva Spending in Early November

Three auctions and CHF 112 million spent over four days.

Watch auctions were held one after the other from November 6th to 9th by Christie’s, Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo and Sotheby’s. The auctions were topped off by the "Oscars of Watchmaking" awards ceremony — the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG).

Christie’s: 55 Million Spent in Two Days

Christie’s auction was split into two events: Legendary and Unique Watches on November 6, followed by Rare Watches on November 7. The first auction raised CHF 31,877,418, and "Rare Watches" raised CHF 23,670,930 the next day.

As expected, the top lot was Richard Mille RM56-01 AN SAPHIR/PR00, NO. 011 from 2013: a unique skeletonized tourbillon wristwatch with a power reserve indicator and torque indicator in a fully transparent case signed by its author.

The piece estimated to go for CHF 2,500,000 – CHF 4,500,000 fetched the organizers CHF 3,654,000. Another tourbillon — one of the very first by Richard Mille — more than quadrupled the upper bracket of its estimate, realizing CHF 2,094,000: Ref. RM001 with the same power reserve and torque indications in an unnumbered rose-gold case circa 2001.

Richard Mille watches actually raked in the lion's share of Christie’s auction results. Another four of his tourbillons sold for around 1.5 million Swiss francs at Legendary and Unique Watches, three went for roughly a million, and a handful fetched around half a million.

Tipped to be second-favorite at Legendary and Unique Watches, François-Paul Journe also lived up to expectations. His unique model in a stainless steel case with a light petrol blue dial, F.P. Journe Grande and Petite Sonnerie Minute Repeater Souveraine wristwatch (2009), was given an estimate of CHF 2,400,000 – CHF 4,400,000 and raised CHF 3,054,000.

A unique platinum chronograph circa 2008, specially made for Scuderia Ferrari's veteran director Jean Todt, beat its estimate by half a million when it went for CHF 1,974,000. And last but not least, the Tourbillon Souverain Remontoir d’Égalité "Ruthenium" no. 63/99-01T circa 2003, gifted by legendary F1 driver Michael Schumacher, was acquired for CHF 1,083,600.

This is truly sensational, but the top-10 most expensive lots at Legendary and Unique Watches were all Mille and Journe watches, with the top-20 all but dominated by them as well. The only outlier was a gold chronograph which managed to squeeze its way into 12th place: Ref. 6241 Rolex Daytona with "Champagne Paul Newman" dial (CHF 1,071,000).

The high price can only be explained by the condition the watch was in. It gives the impression no one has ever worn it since its purchase in 1968. Timeless auction favorite Patek Philippe Ref. 5004 only made 22nd place: the yellow-gold perpetual calendar split-seconds chronograph went for CHF 390,600.

Phillips: CHF 45 Million Spent in a Day

Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo Geneva Watch Auction: XVI stands out for achieving two world records and selling every single lot listed for auction in yet another White Glove Sale: all 226 watches were sold to achieve an auction total of CHF 44,979,370.

The first world record was a predictable one. Ahead of the November auctions, the organizers had already begun advertising three models by the great English watchmaker George Daniels in the middle of summer. The star lot was the unique Spring Case Tourbillon with a signature co-axial escapement and power reserve indication in a yellow-gold case.

Daniels created it for himself in 1992 and wore it right up to 2005. This watch's main highlight is its spring case with a secret reverse dial, which pops open to reveal a view of the tourbillon carriage and calendar indication. It was his first tourbillon with a co-axial escapement.

This is also the first time the piece has been offered at a public auction. It went for four times its assigned estimate as a result: the successful bidder parted with CHF 4,083,500. A second model from the George Daniels Anniversary series launched to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the co-axial escapement Daniels invented sold for CHF 693,000.

The George Daniels Millennium was launched in 1999 to usher in the new millennium and celebrate Omega's launch of movements with co-axial escapement for mass production. It sold for CHF 828,600, beating its upper estimate of CHF 500,000 to secure 9th place. 

The rapidly growing demand for watches by the late English watchmaker who passed away eleven years ago even trumped collectors' interest in the runner-up perpetual calendar chronograph: Patek Philippe Ref. 1518. Many experts had actually predicted this extremely rare pink-gold version of the masterpiece would be the star lot of the Phillips Geneva Auction in November.

It was estimated to go for CHF 800,000 – 1,600,000 but unexpectedly took second place, raising CHF 1,240,000. And a well-deserved third place went to the Patek Philippe Ref. 2499 perpetual calendar chronograph, which arrived in the late 1950s to replace Ref. 1518. Bidding for this yellow-gold case edition with a black dial achieved CHF 1,179,500.

A very rare Patek Philippe Ref. 530 chronograph (circa 1951) with the moniker "Monochrome Pink" in a pink-gold 36.5-mm case with a pink dial sporting gold applied indexes and numerals was just short of reaching the million mark at CHF 901,200.

The second world record was set by a flyback-chronograph sold for CHF 1,058,500: A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Chronograph "Hampton Court Edition" Ref. 414.047. No one had ever paid such a high price for a watch by the Saxon brand up until then. And the watch had been given a fairly low estimate: CHF 100,000 – 200,000.

Philippe Dufour Simplicity with a slate-gray dial, full pink-gold Breguet numerals and pink-gold hands took 5th place when it went for CHF 1,022,200. It was made for a private order and had never been offered at a public auction before.

And finally, the top-ten timepieces at November's Phillips Geneva Watch Auction was rounded out by a very rare yellow-gold chronograph: Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 6264 with "Paul Newman Lemon" dial, sold for CHF 816,500.

Sotheby’s for Dessert

Sotheby’s held the last auction in Geneva on November 9. Collectors must have already spent most of their money over the previous three days. How else can you explain why Sotheby’s 155 lots only fetched just over 12 million Swiss francs?

Many predicted the top lot at the Sotheby’s Important Watches auction would be a prototype of the famous Chronomètre à Résonance "Pré-production Pre-Souscription" by F.P. Journe in a platinum case with a power reserve indication.

They got it right. The first wristwatch where the great watchmaker utilized the phenomenon of resonance sold for CHF 1,071,000. A watch that didn't live up to the organizers' expectations was the unique Vacheron Constantin "Cioccolatone" Ref. 4764 with a triple date and moon-phase indication, offered at a public auction for the first time.

It was manufactured circa 1958 and sold in Athens, Greece. This piece was given the same estimate as the F. P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance "Pré-production Pre-Souscription" (CHF 500,000 – 1,000,000). The platinum "Cioccolatone" made the assigned estimate but didn't fetch a high price: CHF 604,800.

The fact that the triple calendar wasn't very well preserved certainly played a negative role here: half the markings are faded and there are blotches from an unidentified source at the bottom of the dial and in the right-hand corner at 5 o'clock…

Minute repeaters by Patek Philippe delivered consistent success as they went under the hammer at Sotheby’s auction. Ref. 5207P-001 sold for CHF 756,000: a platinum minute repeater tourbillon with a perpetual calendar, moon-phase display, "day/night" and leap year indications.

And Ref. 5074R-001: a pink-gold minute repeating perpetual calendar went for CHF 541,800. The experimental Patek Philippe Aquanaut Travel Time "Advanced Research" Ref. 5650G-001 circa 2017 ("Patek Philippe Advanced Research Limited Editions" were introduced in 2005) fetched CHF 567,000. It debuted the trademark Spiromax balance spring made of a silicon-based material called Silinvar with a patented manufacture terminal curve.

Remember we were interested in whether the power of beauty would be enough to compel a collector to seriously splash out on one of the first examples of the Tank de Cartier Crush in a yellow-gold Daliesque melted case with a tiny quartz movement? Well, its sales price of CHF 705,600 easily exceeded its estimate.