Important Watches Auction @ Christie’s | 12 November 2012 | Geneva

Considering the quality of the pieces presented by Christie's at this fall auction, the odds were that the temperature in the auction rooms of the Hotel des Bergues would exceed that of the Genevan waterfront.

The interest aroused by the catalog was immediately obvious, considering the impressive number of bidders and of Christie's assistants ready to process the offers made online of by telephone. The auction room was actually packed with buyers.

This enthusiasm was confirmed during the morning session rhythmed by hammer prices relatively close to the estimates, but also by two widely anticipated mythical pieces.

First of all, the spectacular Patek Philippe "JB Champion" Observatory Chronometer (Lot 88), auctioned for 3,300,000 CHF.  We had the opportunity to take pictures of this unique piece and the emotion it triggers is almost magnetic: lien vers les images.



The morning ended with the final bid on the lot 151, a platinum Patek Philippe ref. 2499/100, sold for 3'000'000 CHF. Only two copies of this model have been produced with a platinum case.

During the afternoon session, the lot 168, a remarkable Rolex GMT-Master "Double Red", was auctioned for 90,000 CHF. You can admire this splendid piece at: lien vers l'album.



One has to point out the results of diverse Patek Philippe, amongst which the ref. 130, a Single-Button Chronograph (Lot 187) sold for 720,000 CHF, as well as a platinum chronograph ref. 1579 (Lot 188) with a hammer price of 1,300,000 CHF.


But the piece which stirred up the passions was indisputably the lot 194, a William Ilbery Chinese watch. With an estimated price of 70-100,000 CHF, and after multiple bids, it was finally sold for 720.000 CHF.

From the same collection, the lot 197 reached a much higher price than its estimate (40-60,000 CHF), as this piece signed by Just & Son was auctioned for 300,000 CHF.

The other sales confirmed the interest of buyers for the pieces presented by Christie's on November 12.

Especially the fascinating Patek Philippe Ref. 1415 "Eastern Hemisphere" (Lot  218) auctioned for 820,000 CHF.


The Patek Philippe Split-second Chronograph Ref. 1436 "Walser Wald" (Lot 267) sold for 210.000 CHF or the Lot 278, a solar table clock with enameled decorations, also from Patek Philippe, auctioned for  250.000 CHF.

Before the last important pieces of the day, the lot 309, a Rolex GMT-Master "Pepsi", reached 35,000 CHF when its estimated price was 8-12,000 CHF. A fair result in view of the exceptional quality of the piece, which comes with "as many documents as one could wish for", as stated by Aurel Bacs. Conversely, the Rolex Daytona mechanical chronographs proposed the same day (Ref. 6239, 6263 and 6240) have not reached prices as high as they did in recent years.

The session ended with some highly anticipated pieces, amongst which the lot 316, a white gold Patek Philippe with perpetual calendar, ref. 3448, auctioned for its estimated price, 320,000 CHF, as was expected.


As an enthusiast of the Omega 2520 "Neptune" from 1954, I favored the last piece of the auction, an 18K gold automatic Omega with a cloisonné enamel dial (lot 318). This chronometer aroused the passions and was auctioned for 243.000 CHF, when its estimated price was 60-100,000 CHF.



Once again, the careful selection made by Aurel Bacs allowed only exceptional watches to be part of the auction. In a period when the collector's watches market is disrupted by the dubious pedigrees of certain pieces, Christie's once again honors the buyers' trust in its expertise and in the absolute integrity of the pieces it presents.

Total including Buyer’s Premium: 27,049,075 (CHF)