The pre-owned watch market may still be in a slump, but watch auctions are still breaking world records, especially in Geneva, where Phillips, Sotheby’s and Christie’s hammered out sales totaling about $101 million over the weekend.
The Phillips Reloaded sale, which totaled $28,503,111, set three world records: the highest price for an F.P. Journe wristwatch (an astounding $8,390,916 for a platinum tourbillon with remontoire); the highest price for any automatic Daytona ($6,310,382 for a white gold Rainbow made in 1994, thought to be the first example of the model with a multi-colored gem-set bezel); and the highest price for a Derek Pratt for Urban Jurgensen ($4,229,847 for a detent escapement tourbillon pocket watch wth remontoire). It was another white glove sale for Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo–every lot sold. The Rolex was the top lot, followed by the Journe and the Derek Pratt for Urban Jurgensen. The rest of the top ten included three Patek Philippes, an A. Lange & Sohne, an Audemars Piguet and a Cartier.
A day later, Phillips’ Geneva auction XX totaled $29,412,648 for a grand total of $58 million. It’s not a record–Phillips’s top total for a weekend sale in Geneva is CHF61.2 million, in 2022–but it’s a lot, and a remarkable result in a pre-owned watch market that is in a down cycle. The two sales totaled $57,915,659.
Giovanni Prigigallo, co-founder and head of business development for Everywatch, which aggregates and analyzes pre-owned watch sales, told Robb Report there are several reasons for the surge, not the least of which is that “the U.S. election signaled economical stability, and therefore many buyers felt at ease buying.” He also notes that “the watch collecting community is growing. There are just more discerned and passionate high-end collectors now.” But he adds that it’s only the top end of the market that is booming. “Top lots and important pieces are doing very well. If you look at the results, the typical hype watches did not perform well, but their more rare and discerned versions did.
People really like independent watchmakers and vintage/neo-vintage watches and while the new market may not be doing so well, and the typical watches that used to perform very well are not anymore but other watches are doing great.”
Phillips’ worldwide watch boss Aurel Bacs concurs, insisting it’s all about selectivity and exclusivity. “I can certainly confirm that your average pre-owned watch is not selling at the same level as two or three years ago, but our mission is not in the domain of pre-owned watches. We are in the domain of museum quality watches. In good times or tough times, no matter what the industry, the best will always fly. I’ve never seen a season where the best watches tanked.”
Bacs says Phillips turns away 90% of the watches proposed for the auction house to sell. “It is our job to know which are the best. If you don’t have the ability to distinguish what’s good and bad and the decency to pre-select for your audience, who is savvy, well, the market will tell you in your face that your property is not interesting.”
Bacs says that aside from that, auction houses have very little control over who buys and sells. We can serve the best on a silver platter to the buyers and say, here it is. But they have to pick it up themselves. And they did, enthusiastically. There was a rock and roll bidding party in our sale room that saw over a thousand people come over the three days to our auction. Incredible.”
The top lot in the Geneva XX sale was a Rolex ref. 6264 Paul Newman Daytona with a Lemon dial, selling for $2,842,824, a record for the reference. Second was an Akriva chronograph tourbillon, made in 2021 by the currently hot independent watchmaker Rexhep Rexhepi, selling for $1,237,431, a record for any Akrivia piece. And next came a platinum F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain, selling for $1,193,757. There were Patek Philippes of course, in the top 10, a couple of Rolexes, a Lange and a Cartier London Crash that sold for $698,784, proving that the best of shaped watches are still hot.
Sotheby’s set four world records at its Geneva sales of Important Watches and Treasures of Time, a single owner sale of mainly Patek Philippe references, which together totaled $22,031,438. Both sales prove Phillips has not entirely cornered the market on “museum quality” watches. In the Treasures of Time sale, which totaled $15,241,838, the top six lots were rare Patek Philippes, and of those, the top two sold for more than $3 million. A yellow gold split second chronograph ref. 1563 topped the list at $3,887,355. It is one of only three known examples of the model, one of which is in the Patek Museum in Geneva. It is the only example with lumed numerals. Just below that, selling for $3,563,258 was a first-series ref. 2499 in pink gold made in 1950, one of three made with a case made by Wenger (larger, with more sculptural lugs).
Both those watches surpassed the top lot in the Important Watches sale, which totaled $6,789,600, but the models were similar. Leading the sale was another Patek Philippe ref. 2499 (BTW, if these are so rare, why do I keep seeing them at auction?), second series in yellow gold from 1954. It’s one of only two yellow gold models with a “flat dial” – and one more example of how slight nuances such as case maker, shape of lugs, lume or some other dial characteristic can turn a watch into a unique or nearly unique piece. It sold for $2,740,968.
Aside from two other Pateks, there were six Rolexes in the top 10 for this sale, all but one made between 1958 and 1979, which shows you where the collectibility period lies with that brand. The top piece was a ref. 6241 Paul Newman Daytona in steel, made in 1968. It sold for $246,687. Next in price was a 1958 Rolex Milgauss, with the sought-after seconds hand in the shape of a lightening bold, selling for $205,573. Third was another Paul Newman Daytona, this one from 1968, selling for $198,720.
Sotheby’s points out that watch buyers are getting younger – 35% of buyers in this sale were under 40 years old and 60% under 50, “pointing towards a renewal of the watch collectors’ base,” it said in its final release. Geographically, the majority of sellers were based in Europe (34%) the USA and Asia (19% each).
At Christie’s, a charity auction raised CHF 843,000 (about $959,132) for ELA (European Leukodystrophy Association), with the sale of 11 unique watches donated by Andersen Genève x BCHH, ArtyA, Atelier Haute Complication, Bovet, Girard-Perregaux, Konstantin Chaykin, Louis Erard, Montblanc, Richard Mille, Omega x Swatch, Ulysse Nardin and F.P. Journe.
The Christie’s Rare Watches auction totaled $20,616,024, and Breguet was the star of that show: the top lot was a 1935 Breguet No. 3218, one of only two known Breguet perpetual calendar wristwatches, selling for $2,194,614.Another important and unique Breguet offered in the sale was a platinum automatic quarter repeating pocket watch made in 2004, selling for $719,920.
Everywatch’s Prigigallo concludes that, “All in all, I think it’s an extremely positive signal that will push the market in the next few months. In my opinion, and based on the data, auctions actually set the market for the rest of the year.”
