Exceptionally Unusual And Unusually Exceptional Lots Coming Up During Spring Geneva Auction Week 2025

The brands that constitute the bulk of the offerings during any given watch auction week, are there for a reason, or rather, for several reasons. Interest in them is widespread and consistent; they retain their value well or, depending on the season, may even increase in value; they represent genuine interest historically and sometimes even horologically and an auction house that wants to stay in business would do well to make sure that they are well represented. As a result there are, across the board, at Antiquorum, Phillips, Sotheby’s, and Christie’s all have a wide selection of watches from Patek Philippe, Rolex, Audemars Piguet, and in smaller quantities, F.P. Journe and Richard Mille, with most of the watches notable for recognizability and often, relative rarity. However each one of these auction houses also has some lots which are notable for other reasons as well, including idiosyncratic or exceptional design, sheer beauty, historical importance, and even for what they can tell us about watchmaking when they were made and watchmaking as it’s practiced today.

A Casio G-Shock Dream Project Pure Gold, At Antiquorum

There is nothing quite as bluntly pragmatic in the world of watchmaking than the Casio G-Shock and nothing more so than the original, screwed in caseback DW-500C. The G-Shock has its origins in an attempt by Casio engineer Kikuo Ibe, to create a watch that would be for all practical purposes indestructible, and after subjecting prototypes to a number of grueling tests – including being run over by a garbage truck, and being thrown out of the third floor bathroom window of Casio HQ in Tokyo – the G-Shock was born in 1983. Since then it has of course taken on innumerable forms and has become not only an essential part of watchmaking history, but a cultural icon as well, with G-Shocks becoming part of the perennial fabric of street style. There is therefore, probably nothing more delightfully perverse in modern watchmaking than a G-Shock made of solid gold, which is exactly what Antiquorum has coming up in Geneva.

The Dream Project was something that seems inevitable in retrospect but they were not actually launched until 2019, and just 35 were made in all, which makes the watch objectively extremely rare. They don’t come up for auction very often at all thanks to their scarcity, and also, I’d like to think, thanks to the affection their owners have for them. The project was originally suggested by a Japanese retailer who wanted “a symbolic product for the iconic digital wristwatch born in Japan” according to a hands-on story by SJX.

If I were down to just two gold watches – this one and a Rolex Day-Date – I would honestly have a difficult time deciding which one to wear every day. The inner Tony Soprano vibe of the Day-Date is almost irresistible, but the rags to considerable riches vibe of the Dream Project, G-D5000-9JR, is nothing to sneeze at either. For the collector who has almost everything and really wants to finish the arch. Lot 366, estimate $62,000-$82,000.

A Prototype Of The Audemars Piguet Caliber 2870, The World’s First Production Tourbillon, At Antiquorum

This watch was made as a prototype for what would become one of the most historically important wristwatches ever made.

Audemars Piguet launched the caliber 2870/ref. 25643 in 1986 and it was a first in a number of respects – the first series produced tourbillon wristwatch, the first self-winding tourbillon, and for several decades, the thinnest tourbillon and thinnest automatic tourbillon anyone had ever made. The construction of the watch was highly unusual in several ways – the automatic winding system used a hammer-type oscillating weight and in order to make the watch as thin as possible, the back of the watch doubled as the movement mainplate. The construction was derived from the work done by André Beyner and Maurice Grimm, on the ultra-thin Concord Delirium quatz watch which was launched in 1979.

Beyner and Grimm conceived the project of constructing an ultra thin automatic tourbillon – project P 29 – which attracted the attention of Georges Golay at Audemars Piguet in 1982 and led to the development and launch launch of ref. 25643. This is the first prototype Grimm and Beyner ever made for Audemars Piguet, and it is, both in intent and architecture, the ancestor of many record-setting and record-breaking ultra thin watches that would follow in subsequent decades. The watch was owned by Beyner and comes from his estate, and the estimate is almost absurdly low for such an historically important watch (although it’s not exactly a daily driver). Lot 244; estimate $18,600-$30,600.

An Eight Day Cartier Tank Allongée, From 1934, At Sotheby’s (Lot Withdrawn)

This lot has been withdrawn but it’s still extremely interesting to look at – partly thanks to its intrinsic and historical interest, and partly thanks to what it says about our assumptions about long power reserve watches. The Eight Day Tank Allongée is one of the rarest Tank models; introduced in 1931, there were very few made – only 13 are known to exist. Eight day clocks were relatively common in the 19th and early 20th century (many dashboard clocks were eight day clocks) but wristwatches with such a long power reserve were unheard of; this is the earliest example I’m aware of, of a wristwatch with such a long running time.

The example listed is in white gold, with a case just 22mm x 40mm. The movement was produced for Cartier by the European Watch & Clock Company and as you can see, almost the entire internal space inside the watch is taken up by two mainspring barrels, symmetrically arranged around the keyless works. The going train and balance – the latter relatively large considering the small dimensions of the case, and how much room’s taken up by the mainspring barrels –occupy the remainder of the internal volume. The balance is a split, bimetallic compensating balance and the movement was adjusted to temperature and two positions and although the movement shows its age, the high quality of construction is obvious. Making a watch today of this size, with an eight day movement, would be an accomplishment; doing it in 1931 was epic. When the IWC Big Pilot watch came out, with caliber 5002, in 2002 it had a seven day power reserve that was the talk of the town, and that was a 46mm watch (albeit it was intentionally large, as it was and is based on a navigation pocket watch made by IWC in 1940). An incredible piece, sadly withdrawn; Lot no. 57.

An Eight Day Strawberry Shaped Cartier Pendulette Clock, At Sotheby’s, Made In 1949, At Sotheby’s

This is a dramatically different example of an eight day timepiece – also from Cartier.

Sotheby’s has a number of exciting lots from Cartier, including a total of eight clocks, and of the eight this is I think the most Cartier of the bunch.

This is a pendulette mystery clock, in the shape of a strawberry, suspended from a heart shaped support and while all mystery clocks involve some clever sleight-of-hand, this one is especially difficult to figure out – a most mysterious mystery clock, you might say. The time is read off the rotating ring of roman numerals as they pass the diamond set index. The red jewels are topaz, and the movement is contained in the marble plinth that makes up the base of the clock. The horizontal chapter ring is driven by a chain and pulley system that extends up through one of the two supports. Both the eight day Tank and this clock represent historic Cartier production at its best – highly technically sophisticated, but always in the service of creating an artistic and emotional effect. Lot 113; estimate, CHF 500,000-1,000,000.

The Perfect Set, At Christie’s, In Two Separate Lots: A Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse Lighter, And Golden Ellipse Pocket Watch

Somebody really ought to make every effort to get these two lots together, as the gods of horology and compulsive collecting obviously intended. Christie’s has two separate lots either one of which would be interesting in and of themselves, but which I think really deserve to be in the same person’s pocket on a daily basis. The first is a rare (there’s that word again) Golden Ellipse lighter. These have become highly sought after – “avidly coveted” might be a better way of putting it. These lighters were made very small numbers – John Reardon has an article over at Collectability which describes them; he estimates that only 100 to 200 were made, between 1978 and 1980 and that only 30 are known. The lighters – or Briquets d’Ellipse d’Or – are essentially solid ingots of gold, and are one of the most lavish ways to ignite a cigar ever made; they’re almost enough to make you want to take up smoking, if you don’t already.

The lot that someone should definitely buy to go along with the lighter, is this pocket watch.

Yes, it’s true, they’re not precisely color matched but they’re close enough to make the idea of having both very compelling. The pocket watch was made in 1975, in the same era as the lighter, and naturally has exactly the same overall physical profile. The dial is signed Gubelin, the retailer who sold the watch.

They’re like a long lost brother and sister who have through the agency of fate, found themselves entwined in a common fate, and I hope someone gives this pair the happy ending they deserve. The lighter, lot 45, estimate CHF 15,000-25,000; the watch, lot 91, also CHF 15,000-25,000. This was so obviously meant to be.

Three Magnificent Examples Of The Art Of Clockmaking At Phillips: An F.P. Journe x THA Sympathique, A Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos x Hermès, And A Cartier Portico Mystery Clock

When collecting wristwatches begins to fill you with ennui, and the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune incline you towards private rather than public pleasures, fine clockmaking comes into its own. Clocks are constrained by the same basic mechanical principles as wristwatches but they are much less constrained when it comes to design and complexity and there is pleasure to be found in clockmaking, which cannot be found in the limited real estate available on even the largest wrist. Phillips has three of the most impressive clocks ever made, each representing a unique intersection of taste, technology, and design.

The first of the three is an Atmos clock made by Jaeger-LeCoultre in collaboration with Hermès.

The obvious observation is that this is just so very much not the ideal gift for a friend or loved one with trypophobia (or maybe it’s the perfect gift, depending on how sadistic you are in your personal relationships). The Atmos clock is the closest thing in clockmaking to a mechanism that can run indefinitely without human intervention – the mainspring is wound by a bellows filled with a gas highly sensitive to temperature changes, which expands and contracts as the ambient temperature goes up or down. The balance of the clock is a torsion pendulum – a horizontal, massive balance suspended by a wire made of temperature insensitive Invar – and this model was made in 2013, with a crystal case covered in enamel, which produces a most hypnotic (and possibly triggering) visual effect. Lot no. 1, estimate CHF 10,000-20,000.

The second is an ingenious Sympathique clock and wristwatch set, made by THA (Techniques Horlogères Appliquées) during the period when Denis Flageollet was the company’s technical director.

The original Sympathique clocks were made by Breguet, and there were only a dozen or so made, with various mechanisms and in increasing complexity. The Sympathique clocks consisted of a clock, with a pocket watch designed to fit in a dock at the top of the clock case and the clock, depending on the model, would either wind and set the watch, or set the time and regulate the watch. They were enormously complicated, exorbitantly expensive, and as exercises in imaginative, no-expense-spared horological engineering, probably the pinnacle of Breguet’s body of work. Sympathique no. 1 from THA was one of the fledgling company’s first projects and was completed in 1991, and it’s one hell of a strong start to put it mildly. This version of the Sympathique concept was commissioned by Breguet, as a set of 20, and they represent the first time the idea was adapted to a wristwatch – in this case, a hand-wound tourbillon wristwatch based on a Lemania tourbillon movement (Lemania is of course now Manufacture Breguet).

Designed to be equal parts work of art and precision timekeeper, Sympathique No. 1 has a Guillaume balance, double cylindrical gold balance springs, and a chronometer detent escapement; I highly recommend the full history and analysis of this clock written by Cheryl Chia for Revolution.

Lot no. 18, estimate, “in excess of CHF 1,000,000.”

The third is an example of what are probably the most lavish variations on the mystery clock design which Cartier ever made.

This is a Cartier Portico mystery clock, No. 3; these were made in very small numbers (you can see why from the degree of craft and expense of materials lavished on it) for a very short period of time, in the mid-1920s; this particular example, which has been in private hands since its public sale in 1988, is typical of the genre, if you can call anything about a Portico mystery clock “typical.” The clock is made of onyx, rose quartz, enamel, rock crystal and diamonds, with mother of pearl inlay on the bases of the two columns. The hands are diamond set, and mounted on two rotating rock crystal disks. The disks are driven at their peripheries by concealed gear teeth connected by driving rods to the movement in the base of the clock; the basic principle was invented, unsurprisingly, by a stage magician named Robert-Houdin in the mid-19th century, and refined by a clockmaker named Coüet for Cartier.

The design is intended to resemble a gong, suspended between the two doorposts of a temple and was inspired by East Asian architecture. This is an example of true luxury, where it costs whatever it costs and takes as long as it takes and as a result, you had to be royalty or a titan of industry to own one; the first mystery clock ever sold was purchased by John Pierpont Morgan.

If I had to pick a single piece from all the Geneva Auction Week catalogs, it would be this one. It’s the pinnacle of Cartier during the Roaring 20s – and seeing one of these at auction is not exactly a once in a lifetime opportunity but it’s close; the last time an original Portico from the period 1923-1925 (during which time just six were made) appeared at auction was in 1996. As such, there’s really no such thing as a market for these pieces; lot no. 118 comes to you with an estimate “in excess of CHF 2,000,000.”