Important Watches live auction concluded Tuesday in New York, bringing a total of $10.4 million – a 27% increase year-over-year.
Watches by Patek Philippe continued to dominate the market, with Tuesday’s sale led by a Ref 2499 retailed by Tiffany & Co. which sold for $818,600.
Formerly in the collection of Ira Lipman, the watch appeared at auction for the first time.
A number of watches throughout the sale made their auction debut, including a rare Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Grand Complication with a salmon dial, which fetched $441,000.
It also included a Charles Frodsham, London open-faced minute repeating split-second chronograph – originally owned by J.P. Morgan Jr. and on offer through the Estate of Alexandra McCain Morgan – which achieved $201,600.
Looking at the sale more closely, 83% of bidders participated online, and 61% of all sold lots were bought online while 27% of buyers were new to Sotheby’s.
36.2% of bidders under age 40, with bidding spanning 39 countries and in terms of depth, there were nearly 1,000 bids from nearly 400 bidders.
Many lots were pursued by multiple bidders: 48 bidders on Lot 154 and 40 bidders on Lot 7.
