Luxury watch collectors took note this week as new world records were set for ultra-rare Rolex and Patek Philippe models over the magical million-dollar mark. Christie’s Important Watches sale in Geneva racked up the most impressive results, with $22.6 million gained in total with buyers from 40 different countries across five continents.
The most valuable lot of the sale was a historically important white gold Patek Philippe automatic perpetual calendar wristwatch with moon phase and leap year. Ref. 3448 was manufactured in 1981 and set a new world auction record at $1.7 million. History was also made by the extraordinarily rare, oversized stainless steel split seconds chronograph Rolex wristwatch, Ref. 4113. Manufactured in 1942, it became the world’s most expensive Rolex ever when it sold at auction for $1.16 million.
The Antiquorum sale of Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces at Geneva’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel was also notable for record-smashing results. A unique Patek Philippe, “Sky Moon Tourbillon” (Ref. 5002) in pink gold with a special order case features two dials and 12 complications, and it sold for an amazing $1.2 million. And rewriting Rolex history was the sale of a Gold Daytona Paul Newman (Ref. 6263) with a prototype lemon dial and white graphics, which sparked an intense bidding war and ultimately sold for $870,000— nearly three times its low estimate, and the world’s highest price ever achieved for a Rolex Daytona.
