The highest price ever paid for a watch via an online auction was set by a tourbillon from Swiss watchmaker Patek Philippe. The bidding took place at Christie's in Hong Kong.
A Patek Philippe «Sky Moon Tourbillon» was the star attraction of an online auction in Hong Kong, and fetched a record price of $5,815,300, which was just over HK$45 million ($5.7 million), the upper limit of what Christie's estimated the timepiece would fetch.
Among the features of the timepiece (ref. 6002G-001) is an acoustically superb minute repeater with two «cathedral» gongs and a tourbillon. The front dial indicates the hours and minutes of standard time and displays a perpetual calendar with a retrograde date, months at 3 o’clock, days of the week at 9 o’clock, leap-year indication at 12 o’clock, and moon phases at 6 o’clock.
The second dial displays astronomical functions with a star chart of the northern sky, hands indicating sidereal time, and moon phases showing the rising and setting orbit of the moon. The case features two crowns, the lower crown for winding and the setting of the hour and minute hands, and the upper crown for setting the sidereal hands, starscape, and moon’s orbit.
The Tourbillon
Watches with a tourbillon movement are extremely complex and sought after by collectors. The movement was invented and patented by watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1801.
According to Christie's, the mechanism is one of the most enduring technical improvements in precision timekeeping precision. The entire escapement revolves so any adverse effects on timekeeping caused by the watch’s position, whether up, down, or sideways is equalized.
A Complicated Patek
(Patek Philippe ref. 5208-001) Image: Christie's)
Another Patek Philippe also featured in the sale with a Grand Complications going for $999,541, around HK$7.8 million, and in the middle of the estimated range.
The triple complication automatic wristwatch Reference 5208 remains one of the five most complicated wristwatches ever made by Patek Philippe. It was first presented at Baselworld in 2011, and less than 100 examples were made, and today only the pink gold version, ref. 5208R remains in production.
