As what may be the most memorable watch auction long weekend in years drew to a close late Monday, new records were set with Rolex and Patek Philippe timepieces, while many other familiar names, including TAG Heuer, Vacheron Constantin, Breguet, Universal Genève, Zenith, and Urban Jurgensen, reached new levels of auction desirability.
At Sotheby’s on May 14, rare Vacheron Constantin and TAG Heuer watches replica joined Patek Philippe at the top of the high bid list.
An extremely rare pocket watch by Patek Philippe (Lot 227) led the sale, easily surpassing its estimate to reach $475,488. Thought to be one of only two models of reference 844 in white gold, this minute repeating perpetual calendar watch with moon-phases from 1973 bears a full digital display of day, month and date held within a single aperture.
Another Patek Philippe also brought in the high bidders at Sotheby’s. A rare stainless steel Patek Philippe wristwatch (lot 212) with black dial and Breguet numerals, reference 1504, soared to more than ten times its pre-sale estimate, reaching $330,424. This is the only known example of this reference, which combines a stainless steel case, black dial and pink gold Breguet numerals.
A world auction record for a Heuer watch was set when Formula One driver Ronnie Peterson’s Heuer Carrera watch sold for $226,663, more than twenty times the pre-sale estimate. Jack W. Heuer presented this reference 1158 to Ronnie Peterson in 1972 on the occasion of the signing of a sponsorship deal.
A desk timepiece made by Vacheron Constantin (Lot 170) in collaboration with Verger Frères sold for $433,178 after eight avid collectors battled for it.
These highlights, along with a selection of vintage and modern wristwatches, drove the total of the sale to just about $4 million. The full list of results can be found here.
Phillips
With six watches replica selling for more than $1 million, including a record-topping $2.45 million Rolex sale, Phillips had the watch collector world enthralled with two auctions this past weekend. At its much-touted all-chronograph Start-Stop-Reset auction, all eighty-eight timepiece were sold, including that record-setting steel split-seconds 1942 Rolex Ref. 4113 (lot 56), which more than tripled its lower estimate at the final hammer. In the same auction a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona “Paul Newman” with a Valjoux 727 movement (lot 31) fetched $2 million, a record for any Rolex Dayton at auction. The auction included several top lots from Omega, TAG Heuer, Universal Genève and Zenith, among others.
At the second Phillips auction of the weekend, Three, which offered 137 wristwatches and pocket watches replica, a yellow gold 1956 Patek Philippe Ref. 2499 fetched a record high (for Ref. 2499 in gold) $1.7 million, while a steel Patek Philippe Ref. 530 made in 1941 reached 1.47 million after a protracted battle between bidders in the room. That Ref. 530 also set a record as the highest sale price at auction for a steel watch without complications.
All told Philipps finished the weekend with an astounding $33 million in sales for both auctions combined. Check here for more results from Phillips.
Christie’s
On May 16, a rare Breguet repeater and calendar made in 1800 topped the Christie’s Rare Watches Replica auction in Geneva, hammering at $3.3 million, almost three times its high estimate. Among this auction’s 237 lots, this Breguet No. 217, in addition to being self-winding (a rarity) has the extra complications of day and month calendar, power reserve and, most unusually, an equation of time indication. It was once owned by one of Napoleon’s generals and Charles-Louis Havas, the founder of Agence France-Presse (AFP), the world’s first news agency.
Also topping the bids at Christie’s was a 1938 Patek Philippe steel chronograph (lot 171), Ref. 530, with a sector dial retailed by Astrua Torino, considered among the most impressive oversized chronographs ever made by Patek Philippe. The 36.5 mm case is only found on the three known steel reference 530 watches replica with sector dials. The final price of this was $1.2 million.
To see more about the Christie’s Rare Watches Replica sale, see here.
Antiquorum
The May 16 Geneva auction by Antiquorum saw a somewhat surprising high bid for an Urban Jurgensen rose gold pocket watch called the Krusenstern Chronometer (lot 84). The very rare rose gold pocket chronometer with Arnold spring detent chronometer escapement drew bids worldwide, eventually selling for about $766,000, more than twelve times its high estimate. A second Urban Jurgensen model, Lot 214, a perpetual calendar chronograph, also inspired bidders, selling for about $89,000.
A Patek Philippe Ref. 3651 (lot 476) gold chronograph, only the fourth example ever to appear at auction, also inspired fervent bidding, finally selling for CHF 207,750, or about $213,000. Audemars Piguet’s interesting ‘Napoleon Reviewing the Troops’ minute repeating enamel pocket watch, in yellow gold (lot 243), which features a double enamel scene, also attracted scores of bidders, finally selling for CHF183,750, about $188,000, more than four times its high estimate. A Vacheron Constantin One Minute Tourbillon, lot 164, also incited competitive bidding, also sold for $188,000, more than twice its high estimate.
Read more about Antiquorum’s May 16 auction in Geneva here.