The market for collectible watches continues to test new highs. Over the weekend in Geneva, Phillips staged the highest-grossing single watch auction ever, with its latest watch sale realising CHF 74.8 million (US$96.3 million) from 225 lots, all but one of which found buyers.<\/p>\n
Fourteen watches crossed the CHF 1 million mark, while 43 world records were set across brands and references. Patek Philippe led the sale with the Ref. 2523 \u201cSouth America\u201d world-time wristwatch, which realised more than CHF 7.96 million (US$10 million), setting a new record for the reference and becoming only the third vintage wristwatch to surpass US$10 million at auction.<\/p>\n
Demand for F.P. Journe was also notably strong. Nine watches by the independent watchmaker accounted for six records, with several examples finishing comfortably above their estimates.<\/p>\n
Lot 27 |\u00a0Patek Philippe |\u00a0Ref. 2523 |\u00a0\u201cSouth America\u201d Two-Crown World Timer in 18k yellow gold (Auction record for the reference)
\nManufactured in 1953
\nEstimate:\u00a0CHF 5,000,000 – 10,000,000
\nHammer Price:\u00a0CHF 6,500,000
\nSold:\u00a0CHF 7,961,000 (US$10.2 million)<\/p>\n
\nEmerging from the post-war golden age of wristwatches, Patek Philippe\u2019s Ref. 2523 is regarded by collectors as one of the ultimate trophies.<\/p>\n
Launched in the early 1950s, its two-crown world-time system, displaying some 40 cities around the globe, was a radically forward-looking complication, far ahead of mainstream demand. To appeal to connoisseurs, Patek Philippe paired the mechanism with lavish cloisonn\u00e9 enamel dials, yet production of the model remained vanishingly small.<\/p>\n
Current scholarship suggests that only around 27 examples of reference 2523 were made in total, of which just 12 were fitted with polychrome cloisonn\u00e9 enamel map dials:
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tNorth America: six known \u2013\u00a0three in yellow gold, two in pink gold, one in white gold
\n\tSouth America: three known \u2013\u00a0two in yellow gold, one in pink gold
\n\tEurasia: three known \u2013\u00a0all in yellow gold
\n\t\u00a0
<\/p>\n
The present watch is the only South America 2523 ever to have surfaced at auction, having appeared once before in 1988 and now returning after almost four decades off the market. The previous record for the reference was set in 2021, when a Eurasia-dial example achieved more than CHF 7.04 million at Phillips Geneva.<\/p>\n
Lot 6 |\u00a0F.P. Journe\u00a0|\u00a0Chronom\u00e8tre \u00e0 R\u00e9sonance “Souscription No. 18” in platinum and 18k pink gold\u00a0(Auction record for the model)
\nManufactured\u00a0circa 2000
\nEstimate: CHF 450,000 – 900,000
\nHammer Price: CHF 3,950,000
\nSold: CHF 4,875,500 (US$6.3 million)<\/p>\n
\nThe Chronom\u00e8tre \u00e0 R\u00e9sonance is built around a double-balance resonance calibre, in which two regulators are placed in close proximity and, through the phenomenon of resonance, gradually adjust to one another, stabilising their rhythm and improving precision.<\/p>\n
To finance his first 20 Tourbillon Souverain watches, Fran\u00e7ois\u2011Paul Journe adopted a prepaid subscription model, known as Souscription. He repeated this approach for the Chronom\u00e8tre \u00e0 R\u00e9sonance, offering 20 Souscription pieces to early clients. In reality, however, Journe first produced two other series totalling around 50 R\u00e9sonance watches before completing the 20 Souscription examples, making these \u201csubscription\u201d watches conceptually the first generation but the third to be manufactured.<\/p>\n
Most early R\u00e9sonance models were cased in platinum, and two\u2011tone executions like the present watch \u2013 combining platinum and pink gold \u2013 are notably rare. Numbered 18 of the original 20 Souscription pieces, it is one of only five Souscription R\u00e9sonance known with this two\u2011tone case, and one of just three pairing it with a white gold dial, all in the coveted 38 mm case with a brass movement.<\/p>\n
Lot 108 |\u00a0Louis Richard | “Triple Detent Constant Force One Minute Tourbillon Chronometer” in 18k yellow gold (Auction record for\u00a0any pocket chronometer)
\nManufactured circa 1860
\nEstimate: CHF 100,000 – 200,000
\nHammer Price: CHF 3,200,000
\nSold: CHF 3,968,000 (US$5.1 million)<\/p>\n
\nIn the age of ocean exploration, accurate timekeeping was critical to determining longitude at sea. In the 18th century, Britain\u2019s Longitude Act offered substantial rewards for a reliable method of calculating longitude, spurring the development of marine chronometers and highly specialised chronom\u00e8tre pocket watches capable of maintaining precision under demanding conditions.<\/p>\n
This unique observatory pocket watch was made by Louis JeanRichard, who was born into a watchmaking family in Le Locle and was obsessed with precision. He regulated his timepieces by observing the stars, equipping his workshop with astronomical instruments, as well as cold chambers and ovens to test performance under extreme temperatures.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Its \u201cTriple Detent Constant Force One Minute Tourbillon\u201d construction combines a three-detent constant-force escapement, designed to deliver a stable flow of energy over time, with a one-minute tourbillon to compensate for gravitational errors. It is believed to be the only known watch in horological history to combine JeanRichard\u2019s constant-force escapement with a tourbillon regulator.<\/p>\n
Lot 144 |\u00a0Patek Philippe | Ref. 6002G-010 | Sky Moon Tourbillon
\nManufactured in 2018
\nEstimate: CHF 350,000 – 700,000
\nHammer Price: CHF 2,600,000
\nSold: CHF 3,242,000 (US$4.2 million)<\/p>\n
\nAt its launch in 2013, Patek Philippe\u2019s Sky Moon Tourbillon Ref. 6002 was the manufacture\u2019s most complicated wristwatch, uniting 12 complications in a single movement, including a cathedral\u2011gong minute repeater, tourbillon, perpetual calendar with retrograde date, moon\u2011phases, leap\u2011year indication, sidereal time, and sky chart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Housed in a 44 mm white-gold case, the 6002G is entirely hand-chased and engraved with scrolling foliate motifs, a process that takes more than 100 hours to complete.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Ref. 6002 exists in three principal iterations: the first-generation 6002G-001 with blue enamel dial and white-gold case; the present black-enamel 6002G-010 in white gold; and the later 6002R-001 with brown enamel dial and rose-gold case.<\/p>\n
In 2023, a blue\u2011dial 6002G\u2011001 achieved around HK$45\u00a0million (US$5.8 million) at Christie’s,\u00a0setting a record for the most expensive timepiece ever sold in an online auction.<\/p>\n
Lot 36 |\u00a0Akrivia | AK-06\u00a0in stainless steel (Auction record for Akrivia\/Rexhep Rexhepi)
\nManufactured in 2018
\nEstimate: CHF 350,000 – 700,000
\nHammer Price: CHF 2,400,000
\nSold: CHF 3,000,000 (US$3.9 million)<\/p>\n
\nFounded in Geneva in 2012 by Rexhep Rexhepi, Akrivia is a young independent manufacture that has quickly become one of the most sought-after names in contemporary watchmaking.<\/p>\n
Born in Kosovo in 1987, Rexhepi moved to Switzerland as a child and entered the trade early. After apprenticing and working as a watchmaker at Patek Philippe, he went on to high-end movement specialist BNB Concept and later worked alongside Fran\u00e7ois-Paul Journe, before founding Akrivia at just 25.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unveiled in 2017, the AK-06 brought Akrivia to wider attention. Designed to showcase a newly developed in-house calibre, its dial is almost entirely open, revealing a perfectly symmetrical hand-wound movement architecture inspired in part by Breguet. The calibre features a power-reserve display and a zero-reset seconds mechanism.<\/p>\n
Other lots that sold above CHF 1 million:
\n<\/p>\n
Lot 137 |\u00a0Louis Audemars & Co\u00a0|\u00a0No. 12112 La Royale “Super Complication”
\nManufactured in 1878
\nEstimate: CHF 400,000 – 800,000
\nHammer Price: CHF 2,000,000
\nSold: CHF 2,516,000<\/p>\n
Lot 149 |\u00a0F.P. Journe |\u00a0Chronometre a Resonance \u201cPisa\u201d
\nManufactured circa 2009
\nEstimate: CHF 400,000 – 900,000
\nHammer Price: CHF 1,850,000
\nSold: CHF 2,334,500<\/p>\n
Lot 128 |\u00a0F.P. Journe | Octa Chronographe “Straight C\u00f4tes de Gen\u00e8ve”
\nManufactured in 2001
\nEstimate: CHF 150,000 – 300,000
\nHammer Price: CHF 1,350,000
\nSold: CHF 1,714,500<\/p>\n
Lot 65 |\u00a0Greubel Forsey x Philippe Dufour x Michel Boulanger | Naissance d’Une Montre 1 N\u00b01\/11 in 18k white gold (Auction record for\u00a0Naissance d\u2019Une Montre)
\nManufactured circa 2016
\nEstimate: CHF 400,000 – 800,000
\nHammer Price: CHF 1,300,000
\nSold: CHF 1,651,000<\/p>\n
Lot 208 |\u00a0F.P. Journe | Tourbillon Souverain \u00e0 Remontoir d’Egalit\u00e9
\nManufactured in 2003
\nEstimate: CHF 350,000 – 700,000
\nHammer Price: CHF 1,200,000
\nSold: CHF 1,524,000<\/p>\n
Lot 24 |\u00a0Agassiz Watch Co. “Victory Watch – Charles de Gaulle” Pocket Watch in 18k yellow gold
\nManufactured in 1945
\nEstimate: CHF 300,000 – 600,000
\nHammer Price: CHF 1,150,000
\nSold: CHF 1,460,500<\/p>\n
Lot 138 |\u00a0Paul Ditisheim | “Minute Detent Escapement Tourbillon” (Auction record for the brand)
\nManufactured in 1903
\nEstimate: CHF 60,000 – 120,000
\nHammer Price: CHF 1,000,000
\nSold: CHF 1,270,000<\/p>\n
Lot 229 |\u00a0Cartier | Mystery clock,\u00a0rock crystal, agate, rose quartz, nephrite, diamond, onyx, turquoise, mother-of-pearl, yellow gold, and enamel mystery clock
\nManufactured in 1924
\nEstimate: CHF 600,000 – 1,200,000
\nHammer Price: CHF 960,000
\nSold: CHF 1,219,200<\/p>\n
Lot 26 |\u00a0Audemars Piguet | Ref. 5503 | Triple calendar chronograph with moonphase display in stainless steel and 14k pink gold (Auction record for a vintage Audemars Piguet wristwatch)
\nManufactured in 1942
\nEstimate: CHF 400,000 – 800,000
\nHammer Price: CHF 860,000
\nSold: CHF 1,092,200<\/p>\n
Auction Details:<\/p>\n
Auction House: Phillips Geneva
\nSale:\u00a0The Geneva Watch Auction: XXIII
\nDate: 10 May 2026
\nNumber of Lots: 225
\nSold: 224
\nUnsold: 1
\nSale Rate: 99.5%
\nSale Total:\u00a0CHF 74,846,995<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The market for collectible watches continues to test new highs. Over the weekend in Geneva, Phillips staged the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[65],"class_list":{"0":"post-65161","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-geneva","8":"tag-geneva"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116572111936211374","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}