Important Watches

On 13 May 2013, Christie's Geneva auction sale of Important Watches including A Gentleman’s Pursuit for Excellence, Part II fetched a total result of SFr.21,573,075 /$22,608,583 /€17,387,898, selling 94% by lot and 93% by value.

The most valuable lot of the sale was paid for a historically important white gold automatic perpetual calendar wristwatch with moon phase and leap year, ref. 3448, manufactured by Patek Philippe in 1981 (lot 131), setting a world auction record for this reference in white gold.

Numerous world record prices were also set for multiple references and models across many different categories, including a new world record for any Rolex wristwatch sold at auction (lot 88 – Rolex ref. 4113, manufactured in 1942).

Aurel Bacs, International Head of Christie's Watch Department, declared: “In a full and energetic room, Christie’s Geneva marathon-auction sale of important watches reconfirmed the company’s absolute leadership of the category. In an ever increasingly demanding market, our rigorously curated sale attracted buyers from 40 different countries across five continents, selling 94% by lot and 93% by value. While Asian bidders emerged as the most competitive, we never saw such strong activity from the US in a Geneva sale. Christie’s also reaffirmed their predominance in the field of Rolex wristwatches by setting a new world record price for a timepiece by the renowned Swiss manufacture.”