Fifty-seven watches were sold for more than one million Swiss francs in 2021, an annual report on the global auction market has revealed.
Six of the top 11 timepieces (there was a tie for 10th place) were made by Patek Philippe, three were from F. P. Journe and two from Philippe Dufour.
Patek Philippe’s volume meant it lorded over the competition when it came to total value of sales at auction in 2021 with lots under the hammer worth over CHF 187 million.
That is more than all other watch brands combined covered in the research conducted by The Mercury Project in Switzerland.
Auction sales for second place Rolex totalled CHF 51 million, F. P. Journe accounted for CHF 44 million, Audemars Piguet came fourth with CHF 31 million; Richard Mille finished on CHF 13 million and Philippe Dufour sales were worth CHF 11.5 million.
Total auction sales for Antiquorum, Bonhams, Christie’s, Poly Auction, Sotheby’s and Phillips reached CHF 634 million in 2021, up by 63% over 2019, the final year before the pandemic.
The research includes charity auctions such as the Only Watch event in Geneva last year.
Average sale prices have rocketed.
While 2021 saw a 63% increase in the overall value of watches sold, this was achieved with only 33% more lots (16,167 in 2021 compared to 12,201 in 2019).
2021 was certainly a key year of the hybrid era with auctions taking place in sale rooms and online.
The Mercury Project provides a breakdown in sales between sale room auctions and online-only auctions, but has not analysed whether winning bids at sale room auctions came from in the room or online.
The report says 60% of auctions were online-only but accounted for only 19% of the total sales.
The contribution from online sales is certain to be much higher because many sale room lots are bought over the internet, including one of 2021’s most famous auction watches, the Patek Philippe Nautilus with Tiffany Blue dial, which was bought by an online bidder for almost CHF 6 million at the Phillips New York sale in November.
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