An army of watch collectors descended on Geneva at the weekend for a series of watch sales from the major auction houses.
The Swiss city proved immune to any talk of a global economic downturn with Christies alone achieving in access of one million Swiss francs ($1.01 Million USD) for 13 of its 111 lots and Phillips setting two new price records.
The first was the most ever paid for the work of a British watchmaker, when $4.09 Million was paid for the George Daniels Spring Case Tourbillon, one of only two wristwatches the legendary figure made with his own hands.
Phillips later achieved an auction record for any A. Lange & Söhne with CHF 1,058,500 ($1.07M USD) paid for a unique 1815 Chronograph “Hampton Court Edition,” with proceeds going to The Prince’s Trust charity.
Phillips also oversaw the sale of a unique Zenith Calibre 135-O, restored and finished by master watchmaker Kari Voutilainen. The watch achieved more than twice the $136,000 USD retail price of the ten-piece limited edition dropped back in June, with $315,662 USD going to Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
Christie’s $32.3M USD sale was topped by a sapphire and titanium Richard Mille RM56-01 that achieved $3.69M USD.
Other highlights included two unique F.P. Journe watches; the first a Grande et Petite Sonnerie – which was a bespoke commission for a collector and emblazoned with the words “FIA 7th Constructors Formula One World Champions” – and sold for $3.08M USD and a unique F.P. Journe Centigraphe “specially made for the man who inspired and contributed to the very conception of the Centigraphe model” which features Ferrari’s Prancing Horse badge and the initials JT on its red dial, which achieved $1.99M USD.
Although all risked being overshadowed by the antics of meme Instagram account @Horological_Dicktionary which took such a dislike to the Ingenieux By Marco Mavilla Royal Oak/Nautilus mash-up on sale at Antiquorum that it crowd-funded several thousand dollars from its followers in an attempt to buy the watch and then destroy it in public.
However, their budget didn’t quite stretch to the CHF 35,000 ($35,375 USD) eventually achieved for the piece.
Elsewhere in watches, Christopher Ward brings forward second Striking Hour edition after Bel Canto sells out in hours.
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