Christies Geneva’s May watch auction saw a record-breaking auction price, £730,095, achieved for a Rolex watch.
The Important Watches including Property from an Important European Collection sale took place on May 12 achieving a total sale price of CHF 23,823,225 (£15,855,413).
Lot 207, a unique 18k gold Rolex with decorative cloisonné enamel dial sold for CHF 1.097 million (£730,095) but was by no means the auction’s highest value sale with a platinum Patek Philippe with Breguet numerals made in 1927 for Henry Graves Jr. selling for CHF 1,205,000 (£801,966).
John Reardon and Sam Hines, international co-heads of the watch department, said: “The very strong results obtained for Geneva’s Important Watches sale confirmed once again the leadership of Christie’s in the category of Watches at auction, realising an increase of nearly 10% compared to last spring’s sale held on 13th May 2013.
“The 435 pieces offered in today’s auction attracted bidders from 30 different countries, present in the room, on the phone or on the net via Christie’s LIVE, which saw a very strong registration. Exceptional wristwatches, especially those manufactured by Rolex and Patek Philippe, reached sky-high prices once again”
The two private collections within the eight hour sale helped achieve a number of record prices with the ‘Important European Collection’ selling for a total of CHF 3,321,375 (£2.2m) and the Khanjar collection achieving CHF 3,846,000 (£2.56m).
