Soaring prices at the top end of the auction market have made the first half of 2022 another record year for global watch sales at the big five houses: Antiquorum, Bonhams, Christie’s, Phillips and Sotheby’s.
The number of watches sold fell by 20%, but the average price for each sale has rocketed, according to data compiled by The Mercury Project.
Twenty-nine lots achieved more than one million Swiss francs in the first six months of this year, compared to just 18 hitting seven figures in the whole of 2021.
These millionaire watches generated sales worth CHF 55.8 million and accounted for 15% of a total of CHF 379 million across all tracked auctions in the six-month period.
Patek Philippe dominated the list of most expensive watches sold at auction this year, accounting for eight of the top 10.
Rolex failed to make the top 10 at all, with Audemars Piguet and George Daniels taking the only two spaces on the list after Patek Philippe.
Audemars Piguet made it onto the list thanks to the sale of watch designer Gerald Genta’s personal Royal Oak, which sold for CHF 2,170,000 at Sotheby’s auction in Geneva.
The most expensive watch sold so far this year was a Patek Philippe ref. 2499 perpetual calendar chronograph in pink gold. It was sold by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong for CHF 7,255,606.
Looking at the broader market for watches priced at CHF 100,000 to CHF 1 million, Patek Philippe again dominated, accounting for 42% (365 lots) of the watches sold.
Audemars Piguet was second with 159 lots in the six-figure category, beating Rolex into third for the first time.
“More than ever before, watch auction sales in the first half of 2022 demonstrated bidders’ hunger for rare top quality and sometimes never seen timepieces, especially those with private collection provenance,” The Mercury Project describes.
The major auctions took place at the right time this year, just as prices peaked for the sort of high volume waiting list watches from the likes of Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet.
Confidence was therefore high during the spring auction season.
The Mercury Project predicts that, with H2 auctions typically generating higher sales than in the spring, the market could be worth CHF 900 this year.
