Phillips Hong Kong Auction XVI: An Imperial Patek, And Independents Ascendant

Phillips: The Hong Kong Watch Auction XVI, took place over the 24th and 25th of May, but the main event was preceded by something which was at least as much of a main event as the two multi-lot auctions (there were a total of 264 lots and the total realized was $28 million). That was the sale, on May 23rd, of a Patek Philippe ref. 96QL, which had once belonged to the last Qing Emperor, Aisin-Gioro Puyi.

The Imperial 96QL

The Imperial Patek Philippe excited attention for a number of reasons. First of all, there was the provenance – Puyi was not only a Chinese emperor, but the very last, and he reigned – if you can call it that – during one of the most tumultuous periods in the history of China; with his death came the end of a tradition of rule which stretch back millennia.

The second was the rarity of the reference. The Patek 96QL is a rare watch and only three are known – including the Emperor’s – with this particular “roulette wheel” dial configuration; there are only seven 96QL watches known overall.

The third, is the condition of the watch, and thereby hangs a tale. The dial has had all the paint on the lower half scraped off, but it’s not, as you might think at first, the result of water damage. Instead, it was deliberate – the paint was scraped off by Puyi’s servant, Li Guoxiong, at the Emperor’s request, in an attempt to ascertain whether or not the dial, like the watch case, was platinum. The dial therefore tells a very specific story, not just the general tale of age and decay which is the case with most dials that are the worse for wear and age. Like the overall provenance of the watch, it’s something that locates the watch in a particular place and time.

Bidding for the watch was surprisingly brief – after rising to HKD 30 million, a bid came in for HKD 40 million, which is about a $1.3 million increment. The new bid was so high that it occurred to me that it might have been intended to shut down any possible competing bids.

The general rule of thumb nowadays seems to be that the market values very clean, original condition more than ever, as we saw during Geneva Auction Week. However, extraordinary provenance can still produce extraordinary results.

Independent Horology Has Definitely Arrived

Independent watchmaking may not have changed all that much in terms of what it offers in watchmaking substance. It’s still a place where you find watchmakers – often, but not always, youthful iconoclasts – who have a very specific vision of what watchmaking should be and would prefer the risks of being their own masters, than the relative security of laboring anonymously for an established brand. As a category, independent horology’s image has been evolving very rapidly in recent years and while a small number of long-time, established independent watchmakers have long since become institutions in their own right (Philippe Dufour is the obvious example) independent watchmaking is well on its way to becoming an institution as well – or, if not exactly an institution, then at least as viable an alternative for determined collectors as anything from established brands.

Certainly, Rolex and Patek were as usual well represented in the top lots. Of the top ten lots offered on May 24th and 25th, seven were from Patek, and one from Rolex (a Patek – ref. 5207P – was also the third top lot in a separate auction, “Disruptors: Evening Sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art, Design and Watches,” on May 25th, which seemed a canny exploration of positioning watches as part of the larger fine art world, rather than a niche category of collectibles – by contrast, you wouldn’t find lots of grand cru wine in a fine art and design auction, or at least I don’t think you would).

But the top lot? That was from an independent – Rexhep Rexhepi, whose limited edition ref. RRCC01 Chronomètre Contemporain went for $923,696, on an estimate of $205,000-385,000.

The fourth top lot was also from an independent, this time F. P. Journe – a limited edition T30 tourbillon, which sold for $368,688 on an estimate of $128,000-282,000. And there were other surprises as well, including a Hajime Asaoka Project-T Tourbillon, which sold for $243,078 – more than double the high estimate of $121,000.

A Personal Favorite

For many years, one of my top four or five favorite watches has been a small, unassuming-looking little (33mm) wristwatch from Patek Philippe, which, if you didn’t know what you were looking at – and I mean exactly what you were looking at – you could easily mistake for what we used to call a “drugstore watch” at least back in the days when there was always a carousel of cheap quartz watches somewhere near the cash register at your neighborhood pharmacy.

That watch is the Patek Philippe ref. 3939. I’ve seen one in person exactly twice in my entire life, and aside from the company name on the dial, that little, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it repeater slide, and the word “tourbillon” in such small letters that they seem an afterthought, you wouldn’t guess that this is nothing less than a masterpiece of old-school, hyper-classical Swiss watchmaking.

But that’s exactly what it is, and in what I hope is a sign that a watch doesn’t need to be a hype watch to get the action it deserves, a 3939 was the 6th top lot – it went for $307,899 on a high estimate of $321,000. Now, that’s not exactly bananas, record-breaking money for the reference; Christie’s sold one in 2019 for roughly the same price ($351,000, at today’s exchange rate). But in terms of the craft that it represents, the relative stability of pricing means that it’s an excellent value proposition.