Spanning the globe from Geneva to Hong Kong the month of May is the important spring season for watch auctions. Offered up for sale are hundreds of watches amongst which are some of the rarest and most desirable collector pieces to be found.
In terms of sales figures for the Geneva watch auctions, how does this look?
- Antiquorum recorded that their Geneva, May auction totalled CHF 14,271,687, (approx. £12,468,670), including buyer’s premium.
- Christie’s noted the following results for Geneva. The auction house offered 164 pieces, selling 96% of all the lots, with a total sale value of CHF 22,821,050, (approx. £19,937,950), including buyer’s premium.
- Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo, recorded that their Geneva May auction achieved a total sale value of CHF 35,959,720, (approx. £31,416,740), including buyer’s premium. 215 lots were offered of which 99% were sold.
- Sotheby’s listed that their Geneva Important Watches Part I and Part II made a combined total of CHF 14,953,615, (approx. £13,064,450), including buyer’s premium.
Aurel Bacs auctioning the Patek Philippe, Reference No. 2523/1, Two-Crown World Time, ‘Ore del Mondo Doppia Corona’ wristwatch in 18K yellow gold from 1954 at their Geneva auction held between 11 - 12 May for CHF 1,754,000, (approx. £1,530,300), including buyer’s premium. © Photo courtesy of Phillips.
This all points to the top end of the market that is still creating new records and selling high percentages of offered lots. Obviously however over the last few years in the UK for example, and for other economies, we have experienced higher inflation, an energy crisis, and rising interest rates. Additionally, there has been broad commentary that the watch price bubble and hype in the secondary market from around 2019 to 2021 / 2022 has now softened. These factors have impacted the market. At the top end of the market, it might be fair to say collectors will still pay high prices but will be very discerning about this. Condition, quality, originality, rarity, provenance and market sentiment are critical regarding which watches are seen as most collectable. How the market plays out for the remainder of 2024 remains to be seen. Meantime this report will look at some of the key highlights for the month of May.
Triple World Time Patek Philippe wristwatches across the month of May
Patek Philippe: Reference No. 2523/1, Sold by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo © Photo courtesy of Phillips / Reference. 2523, Sold by Antiquorum. © Photo courtesy of Antiquorum / Reference. 2523J, Sold by Christie's. © Photo courtesy of Christie's Images Ltd. 2024 / Reference. 605 HU DE, Sold by Antiquorum. © Photo courtesy of Antiquorum.
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Incredibly, one of the rarest and most prized vintage Patek Philippe wristwatches was offered three times in May by three different major auction houses, Antiquorum, Christie's and Phillips. The Patek Philippe Two-Crown World Time Reference. 2523 manual wind wristwatch is highly sought after by collectors so to see three turn up in May is quite something. Apart from their rarity what makes these three watches most fascinating are the differences across all three dials. Highest spot for sale value went to Christie's Reference. 2523J, by some margin as their watch sold for HKD 65,475,000, (approx. £6,577,930), including buyer’s premium. In fact, Christie's noted this was a world record price for a Patek Philippe, Reference. 2523J wristwatch.
Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo had a Patek Philippe, Reference No. 2523/1, Two-Crown World Time, ‘Ore del Mondo Doppia Corona’ wristwatch in 18K yellow gold from 1954 at their Geneva auction held between 11 - 12 May. The watch has a guilloché dial, metallic city ring and a case size of 36mm diameter. Catalogued as astoundingly well-preserved and supremely scarce. This watch became Phillips star lot for their auction in Geneva selling at CHF 1,754,000, (approx. £1,530,300), including buyer’s premium. The lot was estimated at CHF 1,200,000 - 2,400,000.
Antiquorum also had a Patek Philippe, Reference. 2523 wristwatch at their Geneva auction held between May 11-12. Catalogued as an 18K yellow gold, manual wind World Time wristwatch with two crowns and a guilloche yellow gold dial centre. The watch was made in 1953 and sold in December 1954. Helping to understand why the Reference. 2523 is so important Antiquorum catalogued that ‘The Patek 2523 is one of the most significant however due to its rarity, scholars believe only 26 pieces were ever made’. Estimated at CHF 1,000,000 - 2,000,000 the watch sold for CHF 1,910,000, (approx. £1,666,410), including buyer’s premium.
Later in the month in Hong Kong on 26 May Christie's offered a Patek Philippe, Reference. 2523J, 18K gold two-crown World Time wristwatch with 24-hour indication and a rare Cloisonné enamel map dial. Manufactured in circa 1953. Estimated at HKD 39,000,000 – HKD 78,000,000 the watch sold for HKD 65,475,000, (approx. £6,577,930), including buyer’s premium. Christie's noted this was a world record price for a Patek Philippe, Reference. 2523J.
All three auction houses included in their cataloguing the importance of Louis Cottier a renowned watchmaker based in Geneva who invented in the 1930s the ‘World Time System’ as used in the Patek Philippe, Reference. 2523.
Reference. 2523J, Sold by Christie's. © Photo courtesy of Christie's Images Ltd. 2024.
World record for a World Time pocket watch at Antiquorum sold for £2.6 million
‘Undoubtedly one of the most important world time pocket watches ever to appear on the market’.
If three Patek Philippe, Reference. 2523 wristwatches were not enough Antiquorum featured at their Geneva May watch auction what they noted as an exceptional, fresh to the market Patek Philippe, Reference. 605 HU DE, World Time Cloisonné "World" pocket watch. The auction house added that the 18K pink gold, manual wind timepiece was possibly unique. Made in 1943 it was sold in November 1946.
Estimated at CHF 1,000,000 - 2,000,000 the superb pocket watch sold well above estimate making CHF 3,050,000, (approx. £2,662,490), including buyer’s premium. Antiquorum noted the price was a world record for a Patek Philippe, World Time Cloisonné, "World" pocket watch.
Famed ‘pink on pink’ Patek Philippe reference. 1518 takes the prize in Geneva
An extremely rare Patek Philippe, Reference. 1518, second series, 18K pink gold, pink dial, perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch with moon phases from 1948. Sold by Christie’s, Geneva in May for CHF 2,465,000, (approx. £2,150,620 million). © Photo courtesy of Christie's Images Ltd. 2024.
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Hats off to Christie's for managing multiple million-pound plus auctions in Geneva, including Only Watch, and in New York with their website out of action due to what Christie's commented was a ‘technology security incident’. Full functionality for both their website and App has now been restored. Despite this their Geneva watch sale on 14 May achieved the highest price for a wristwatch sold during the spring watch auction season in Geneva, (excluding the Only Watch auction results). Christie's catalogue notes:
‘Since its launch in 1941, the reference 1518 has always been one of the most desired of all Patek Philippe’s complicated wristwatches’.
This highest price was for an extremely rare Patek Philippe, Reference. 1518, second series, ‘Mark 2’, 18K pink gold, perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch with moon phases, a pink dial and a Spanish calendar from 1948. The case is sized at 35 mm diameter. Christie’s catalogued that the Reference. 1518 was in production from 1941 to 1954, with approximately 281 pieces made. Of which approximately 58 pieces were made in pink gold and only 12 known with a pink dial, the so called 'pink on pink'. Christie’s added that the watch was fully and expertly restored by Patek Philippe in the 1990s.
Estimated at between CHF 2,000,000 – CHF 4,000,000 the watch fetched CHF 2,465,000, (approx. £2,150,620 million), including buyer’s premium, within the lower end of the estimate.
£ million plus sales for two Rexhep Rexhepi wrist- watches in May
An exceptionally rare Rexhep Rexhepi, Reference No. RRCC1, model Chronomètre Contemporain platinum wristwatch from 2019. Sold by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo, Geneva in May for CHF 2,100,000, (approx. £1,826,400). © Photo courtesy of Phillips.
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Celebrated independent watchmaker Rexhep Rexhepi, founder of Atelier AKRIVIA in 2012, has had two of his wristwatches make over £1 million pounds at auctions in May. As the Atelier AKRIVIA website notes AKRIVIA timepieces are designed and built entirely in-house at their Atelier based in Geneva’s old town with fewer than 30 watches made a year. The founder’s own watch making collection is signed ‘Rexhep Rexhepi’. Rexhep Rexhepi has won the Men's Watch Prize at the prestigious Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) twice in 2018 and again in 2022.
First up, in May was Rexhep Rexhepi own contribution to the Only Watch charity auction. To mark the 10th edition of Only Watch Rexhep Rexhepi created a Reference. RRCA Chronomètre Antimagnétique wristwatch. Estimated at CHF 100,000 - 150,000 the watch went on to sell for CHF 2,100,000, (approx. £1,826,400), This is an impressive 14 times the high estimate. Proceeds from the 10 May Only Watch auction go to raising funds to accelerate research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy and related genetic diseases.
A day later at on 11 May, Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo watch started their two-day Geneva watch auction. Lot 58 in their sale was listed as an exceptionally rare Rexhep Rexhepi, Reference No. RRCC1, model Chronomètre Contemporain wristwatch from 2019. As catalogued by Phillips the watch case is crafted from Platinum, sized at 38mm diameter, with a white Grand Feu enamel dial and zero-reset function. Powered by a calibre. RR-01 manual movement, the watch is number 3 of a limited edition of 25 pieces. The Chronomètre Contemporain is the first watch model to be crafted within Rexhep Rexhepi’s own collection.
Given an estimate of CHF 300,000 - 600,000 the watch sold over the estimate achieving CHF 1,155,700, (approx. £1,005,130), including buyer’s premium. Phillips noted this was a world record result for the model.
Auction results such as these place Rexhep Rexhepi timepieces into the highest echelons of watches sold at auction that are made by the leading independent watchmakers.
It's certainly been a busy month in the world of watch auctions, meaning that's all we have time for in Part 1 of May's auction highlights. Be sure to join us again next week as we delve into more fascinating lots by Cartier and Richard Mille, as well as other luxury watchmaker's...
In the meantime, check out our On the Road column where you can read all about F1 great Michael Schumacher's collection, which fetched over $4 million earlier this month.
Banner image - © Photo courtesy of Christie's Images Ltd. 2024
