June Heat Hits Auctions

The main auctions in the first summer month have been held in New York. The U.S. economy is experiencing tough times by the look of it.

The auction house which generated the most activity in June was Sotheby’s, although outstanding results weren't achieved at all three of its auctions. The Over 40 Special Rolex Watches selling exhibition on June 8 mainly auctioned off relatively new watches. Increased demand was shown for the Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 116506.

The platinum chronograph was the most expensive lot sold for USD 185,000, while prices for yellow-gold Daytonas hovered around the USD 100,000 mark. Day-Date models in precious-metal cases which aren't the most common were approximately ten thousand dollars cheaper.

The Important Watches auctions held in New York on June 15 were given the title "Celebrating 50 Years Of A Classic: The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak", where 50 out of the 180 lots were Royal Oaks.

The top lot consequently ended up being the Ref. 26605CE.00.1248CE.98 Royal Oak Grande Complication: a minute repeater with a perpetual calendar and split-seconds chronograph in a black ceramic case circa 2020, which sold for USD 1,134,000.

The watch in second place at USD 882,000 was a platinum tourbillon with a constant-force mechanism by F.P. Journe called Tourbillon Souverain à Remontoir d'Egalite. Third place was shared by two watches which both raised USD 630,000.

One was the Ref. 25865BC Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Grande Complication: a minute repeating split-seconds chronograph with moon-phase and leap-year displays circa 2006. The other was the Rolex "Rainbow" Daytona Ref. 116595 encased in pink gold on a bracelet and bezel encrusted with diamonds and multicolored baguette-cut sapphires circa 2018.

Models by Patek Philippe and Richard Mille also displayed decent results but without any sensational lots. The auction raised a total of USD 18,964,890. An intriguing auction was held by Sotheby’s in New York on June 22. It was called Gérald Genta: Icon of Time, where hand-drawn sketches of future models by the great watch designer were sold.

The prototype drawings also tapped into the latest craze for NFTs. The pictures generated a tidy sum from buyers who shelled out between USD 4,032 and USD 40,320 for them. The sketches collectors valued most dearly were of a Bvlgari Roma model circa 1976 and an IWC chronograph in a round case circa 1975. Bidders raised a solid figure of USD 360,234 for the NFT offerings.

Another auction closed on the same day called Sotheby’s Fine Watches, where the top lot was the Patek Philippe Ref. 5980/1R-001 Nautilus flyback chronograph circa 2019 with combined 60-minute and 12-hour mono-counter at 6 o'clock, which sold for USD 252,000.

Compared with auctions held by Sotheby’s, results achieved by Phillips auction house were clearly more interesting. The New York Watch Auction: SIX achieved a sales total of USD 30.3 million, more than tripling the pre-auction estimate. They may not be the most impressive world records, but five of them were recorded there.

The most expensive watch was an extremely rare platinum wristwatch called Anniversary by the British watchmaker George Daniels with a co-axial escapement, date display and power reserve indication with the number "00" engraved on the movement. The watch given an estimate of USD 500,000 – 1,000,000 went for USD 2,389,500. No one has ever paid such a hefty sum for an English watch before.

Lot 111 took second place when the watch sold for USD 2,087,000: Ref. 6264 Cosmograph Daytona Paul Newman “El Limoncito” in a yellow-gold case circa 1969. And that's a world record for this model.

The watch which came third was the F.P. Journe Chronomètre Souverain in platinum with a power reserve indication. François-Paul Journe gifted it to none other than George Daniels in 2010. The buyer paid USD 1,482,000 for it, which is a world record for this model as well.

It's interesting that tourbillons by François-Paul Journe also followed in fourth and fifth place. The model from 1999 made it to USD 1,361,000 while the one from 2015 sold for USD 1,240,000.

The watchmaking great Patek Philippe was represented by two models in the top ten. One was the Ref. 5016R-010 minute repeater with a tourbillon, perpetual calendar, retrograde date and moon-phase display circa 2001 in a pink-gold case.

It sold for USD 840,700 and secured sixth place. The other was the Ref. 3939HG-001 Patek Philippe minute repeating tourbillon wristwatch in white gold circa 2007, which came tenth when it sold for USD 504,000.

Seventh place featured another surprise: a skeleton watch by another independent watchmaker from Britain called Roger Smith. His Series 2 Open Dial model with a power reserve indication circa 2017 sold for USD 840,700. That's a world record for Roger Smith.

Nevertheless, Rolex Daytona "Rainbow" models featuring a bezel encrusted with precious baguette-cut stones are still the general object of desire. This was compounded by the sale of a model made five years ago called Ref. 116595RBOW, which went for USD 693,000.

That’s a new record for this reference number. And finally, ninth place was quite rightly occupied by a brand from the Saxon town of Glashütte by the name of A. Lange & Söhne, which is gaining more and more trust among fans.

Their platinum masterpiece called Ref. 704.048 Lange 1 Tourbillon Handwerkskunst from the collection celebrating  the 20th anniversary of the Lange 1 model has grown significantly in price over the last three years. It cost USD 357,000 in 2019 but has now been sold for USD 529,200.

Overall, it's worth noting that despite the modest USD 30.3 million achieved at this auction, Phillips has raised a total of USD 127.2 million since the beginning of the year, firmly securing the auction house's position as the global market leader.