The Geneva Watch Auction: XV and Hong Kong Watch Auction: XIV

Big firsts in Europe and Asia.

Geneva
 

Encouraging results were achieved at what was the first major auction of the year 2022: the Geneva Watch Auction: XV organized by the watch department at the major Phillips auction house in association with Bacs & Russo.

It saw 600 top collectors and over 1800 online bidders from 67 countries snap up all 196 lots to realize an auction sales total of CHF 38,938,400 / USD 39,374,510 / EUR 37,711,840.

Coupled with the revenue from the Royal Oak 50th Auction held earlier, Phillips has realized a very hefty CHF 61,242,180. It's already an impressive sum when you consider the auction house reached USD 209.3 million last year.

The top-three watches bidders competed for were predictable favorites and ended up being in the same order we predicted in our last article. The watch that took first place was the Patek Philippe Ref. 1518 "Pink on Pink": an extremely rare perpetual calendar chronograph in a rose-gold case with a pink dial.

It went for CHF 3,297,000, beating its pre-sale estimate of CHF 1,200,000 - 2,400,000. Second place was taken by the Rolex Daytona Ref. 6239 "Crazy Doc": a unique recognizable yellow-gold chronograph with a white "panda" dial and pulsometer scale, which once belonged to the great guitarist Eric Clapton.

It went for CHF 1,724,000 and set a new world record for this reference number, which had been given a pre-sale estimate in excess of CHF 1,500,000.

The bronze medal went to the Patek Philippe Calatrava Ref. 1503 with a black dial and Breguet numerals once worn by the legendary Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. It sold for CHF 1,361,000 and set another world record for the Ref. 1503, which had been estimated to go for CHF 250,000-500,000.

Overall, the top-ten and most expensive lots turned out to be quite objective and clearly reflected the average interests of players on the pre-owned watch market: five Patek Philippe models, three Rolexes and a couple of pieces by F. P. Journe.

The hammer price was a bit disappointing for the rare Rolex Ref. 6241 Cosmograph Daytona with a black "Paul Newman" dial in a yellow-gold case, also known as a "John Player Special". It may have taken seventh place at CHF 852,800 but was expected to achieve a better result with an assigned estimate of CHF 700,000 - 1,400,000.

It was the opposite way around for the Rolex Ref. 6036 Oyster Chronographe “Gold metal Killy”, which exceeded expectations. The vintage triple calendar yellow-gold chronograph on a yellow-gold bracelet given a pre-sale estimate of CHF 500,000 - CHF 1,000,000 came fourth, auctioned off for CHF 998,000 (USD 1,009,177).

Watches by François-Paul Journe are looking more and more reliable and respected, shouldering up to timepieces by the world's greatest. Each piece by this watchmaker that was put up for auction trumped its pre-sale estimate.

Eight place was taken by the F.P. Journe Octa Zodiaque made in 2005: a unique zodiac calendar with date and month indications encased in pink gold which was hammered off for CHF 804,400. Moreover, it was sold to an anonymous bidder and the consignor donated all proceeds from the sale to a charity called Children Action.

This gave the organizers food for thought, who decided to do the same and donate the buyer's premium from the sale to the same charity. Another buyer acquired a simple and stylish chronometer by F.P. Journe in tantalum with a denim-colored dial called Chronomètre Bleu Byblos, which sold for CHF 630,000 (10th place).

Other pieces by independent watchmakers that displayed decent results were models by Kari Voutilainen, Christian Klings, Urwerk, MB&F and De Bethune. Following the sensational April unveil of Vacheron Constantin's Historiques 222, a remake of the iconic 222 model, bidders eagerly awaited the opportunity to bid for a similar model to the original run produced from the year 1977 to honor the brand's 222nd anniversary.

You may recall that the model was produced over a seven-year period, when approximately 750 pieces were made in steel and gold cases. It's safe to say lot no. 138 lived up to expectations. The Vacheron Constantin 222 "Jumbo" Ref. 44018 in a 38-mm case on a yellow-gold bracelet was sold for CHF 163,800, doubling its highest estimate.

Harry Winston and Vianney Halter's very rare platinum Opus 3 Ref. 520/MMVHPL/D3 went for a predictable CHF 214,200 for the first mechanical watch with comprehensive digital disk indications for the hours and minutes that the independent watchmaker Vianney Halter worked on.

There was another very unusual model called Urwerk "King Cobra" Ref.  UR-CC1 with a linear time display, which went for almost eleven times the lower margin of its pre-sale estimate when it sold for CHF 327,600.

Hong Kong

The sense of optimism was maintained at the Hong Kong Watch Auction: XIV held on May 27-28, where watches set records on the Asian market for their sales prices and realized an auction total of HK 264 million (USD 33.6 million).

There weren’t any surprises and the same watchmakers remained on top. The most expensive lot was the Patek Philippe Ref. 3974 in yellow gold with a minute repeater, perpetual calendar and moon-phase display. The watch made in the year 1990 went for HKD 19,610,000 (USD 2,498,314), which is also a world record for this model.

Second place was taken by the Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5723/112R-001 model in a pink-gold case featuring a bezel decorated with baguette-cut rubies for HKD 11,442,500 (USD 1,457,775). It's now the most expensive Nautilus in a gold case.

Third place was occupied by the F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain "China 2010" Limited Edition: a tourbillon with a remontoir system (constant force device) unveiled in a five-piece edition by François-Paul Journe twelve years ago.

The watch created especially for the Chinese market to commemorate the opening of the watchmaker's boutique in Beijing achieved HKD 8,720,000 (USD 1,110,928).

A unique piece made by Voutilainen circa 2017 came forth. The watch with a platinum case and beautiful dial decorated using a Japanese lacquering technique went for HKD 4,410,000 (USD 561,834).

The top-ten also features two chronographs by Rolex: the Ref. 16528 Cosmograph Daytona in a yellow-gold case with a "Ying Yang" dial (HKD 3,654,000 / USD 465,520) and the Ref. 6241 in a stainless steel case with a "Paul Newman" dial circa 1968 (HKD 3,276,000 / USD 417,362).

Last but not least, the top-ten was rounded out by the Ref. 730.048F pink-gold tourbillon by А. Lange & Söhne circa 2016 and Richard Mille's automatic chronograph: Ref. RM67-02 CA-FQ "RM67-02 Alexis Pinturault" in titanium and TPT quartz.

They were both purchased by the same buyer for the same price of HKD 3,276,000 / USD 417,362. Head of Watches at Phillips for Continental Europe and the Middle East Alexandre Ghotbi commented on the results of the first major auction of the year, noting furious battles between numerous bidders from around the world, which are now playing out far more often. If this is anything to go by, auctioneers can expect a record year of very heated bidding.