Remarkable Watches, Remarkable Results: Thoughts On Geneva Auction Week 2024

Over the course of my life as a collector I have mostly concentrated on two things: watches (of course) and fountain pens. I started collecting both when you could have fine examples of both vintage watches and vintage pens, for what was a song, comparatively speaking and while we all know what has happened to the market for vintage watches, fountain pens have remained largely stable in price with the exception of a mild bump over the years for collectible vintage Montblanc. This was fine with me as turning a profit wasn’t why I started collecting either watches or pens, but I have always felt a certain calm resignation about the fact that nobody is ever going to offer me five figures for a vintage Pelikan piston fed pen (for instance).

Likewise, I had never particularly thought that pocket watches would ever return the sort of six or even seven figure results at auction that make headlines. There have been exceptions over the years, but very few and far between; yes it is true that the Henry Graves Supercomplication sold for CHF 23,237,000 in 2014 (and has not been seen since) but it’s also true that in general, even the highest quality pocket watches have sold for substantially less than top-lot wristwatches and that there is often something of a disconnect between price realized and watchmaking content. This is not to say that there is anything objectively right or wrong about paying six figures for, for instance, an industrially produced chronograph, which may have considerable historical interest and contextual value, but it is always nice to see real craft and real mechanical ingenuity rewarded in the market place. In fact, the top lots from each auction represent just how diverse the focuses of watch collecting have become.

Three Very Different Watches Were The Top Lots At Phillips: Reloaded

So I’m happy to see that this past Geneva Auction Week had some really impressive results for genuinely impressive watches. At the top of the heap of course was the sale at Phillips “Reloaded” of an F. P. Journe tourbillon with remontoir and power reserve. The watch is the second wristwatch ever made by Journe and the first to be offered for sale and has had only a single owner. Final price was CHF 7.32 million and the first bid was CHF 5 million. The result is well over the estimate which was just, “in excess of CHF 2 million” and it would be easy and partly correct to say that this is a unique piece and therefore, that the price is not a bellwether for the Journe market as a whole. However, such a result is a sign of how strong interest is in F. P. Journe in general as it would obviously have been impossible if Journe’s watches and watchmaking were not so highly valued by serious collectors.

The other two top lots in the Reloaded auction were as different from each other, and from the Journe, as could be. One was a very early unique piece rainbow Daytona from 1994, which sold for CHF 5.05 million and the third, an oval pocket watch by the English watchmaker Derek Pratt, which was as much a labor of love as any watch ever made. Pratt unlike George Daniels was not especially ambitious in a business sense but he was extremely ambitious in terms of mastering the craft of watchmaking and he is probably best known, when he is known at all, for the work he did at Urban Jurgensen (A Collected Man has put together a great biographical article that looks at his work and legacy).

The oval pocket watch sold for CHF 3.69 million, on a high estimate of CHF 1 million and it was the first watch ever to incorporate a remontoir into the tourbillon cage itself (the remontoir is often on the movement fourth wheel, but Pratt placed it on the escape wheel instead). It’s interesting to compare this result to one from 2023 – also a pocket watch, also produced by Derek Pratt for UJ, sold at the Geneva Watch Auction XVII for CHF 165,100. That watch is a perpetual calendar with minute repeater, based on a vintage movement by Louis-Elysée Piguet, and is one of four – the dramatic differences between this lot and the Oval include the fact that the Oval is a unique piece with a first-in-history technical innovation but it’s also, it seems to me, a sign that the market is looking for qualitatively superior watchmaking at least as much as blue chip brand equity.

Christie’s Rare Watches Including Watches For ELA Top Lots – Rarity Strikes Again

Christie’s Rare Watches Including Watches For ELA (there was a special lot of watches to benefit the European Leukodystrophy Association) had a similar spread in some respects to Phillips’ top results in the Reloaded auction. At the top of the list was a Breguet wristwatch sold in 1935 with a retrograde date indication – possibly the first perpetual calendar with a retrograde date indication. The watch had a high estimate of CHF 200,000, and much to everyone’s surprise, ended up sellling for CHF 1,920,500 which is as close as never mind to ten times the high estimate.

The only other point of comparison I can think of is the sale of the Dolfus Perpetual Calendar albeit that was in 2011, which sold for CHF 432,000. Like the Breguet retrograde, it’s a unique piece and arguably even more historically important. In fact, the number four lot at Christie’s ELA was also a Breguet – a modern Breguet pocket watch, à toc quarter repeater made at the behest of Nicholas G Hayek in a series of five, and which is based on a Breguet repeater of the same design from 1794. The watch sold for CHF 630,000 on a high estimate of CHF 300,000 – good news for Breguet and the Breguet market.

The number two and number three lots were a Rolex “Stelline” 6062, which sold for CHF 1.376 million, on an estimate of CHF 1,200,000 – CHF 2,200,000, and, surprise surprise, an early (2000) third series Tourbillon Souverain, which sold for CHF 730,800 on an estimate of CHF 400,000 – CHF 600,000. These are obviously strong results, but when your top four lots are bracketed by a Breguet wristwatch from the ‘thirties and a Breguet pocket watch from the early 2000s, one wonders what the future of Breguet collecting looks like.

Antiquorum Geneva 2024: Journe Strikes Again

Of the top six lots at Antiquorum, four were Richard Mille but the top slot was a Journe – another Tourbillon Souverain, Souscription in platinum, which sold for CHF 2.930 million on an estimate of CHF 800,000 – 1,800,000. It was interesting to see a Richard Mille RM UP-01, which had a brief stint as the world’s thinnest watch ever made before being edged out by the Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC – the UP–1 had held the title after coming in fractions of a millimeter thinner than the first version of the Octo Finissimo Ultra.

The UP-01 is a remarkable engineering achievement but opinions are split on its aesthetics. The watch has no conventional winding crown; both winding and setting have to be done with a special tool and overall, there is little in common between not only the UP-01 and other Richard Mille watches, there is little in common between the UP-01 and any other watch, period. Currently the record for world’s thinnest watch is held by the Konstantin Chaykin “ThinKing” although at least so far it exists only as a prototype.

The UP-01 sold at Antiquorum for CHF 1.730 million on an estimate of CHF 1,000,000 – 2,000,000 – that is pretty close to the retail price for the watch when Richard Mille launched the watch in 2022, which was CHF 1.88 million.

The Other Phillips Auction: Geneva Watch Auction XX, Journe Strikes Again, Again

Although I think the Reloaded auction had a lot going for it in terms of glamour and history, Geneva Watch Auction XX had some representative results in its top lots. It isn’t really news to say that a rare Paul Newman Daytona is a seven figure watch, but still, give credit where it’s due; the “Lemon” PND sold for CHF 2.48 million on an estimate of CHF 800,000 – 1,600,000.

Next up was an Akrivia and an historically important one – it’s an AK01, single button chronograph tourbillon, and the first Akrivia model produced by Rexhep Rexhepi, which sold for CHF 1,079,500 on an estimate of CHF 300,000 – 600,000.

Finally, in the number three position, there was yet another Journe Tourbillon Souverain; this one, an early model from 2001 with a pink gold dial. The watch sold for CHF CHF1,041,400, on an estimate of CHF 250,000 – 500,000.

Trends From Auction Week 2024

It’s not surprising to see Rolex, Journe, and high quality independents dominating the top three slots at these four auctions and it would be misleading to ignore the fact that as usual, much of the take overall consisted of Rolex and Patek Philippe – to say that both brands are consistent high performers is to say nothing at all. Still, it was refreshing to see the Pratt Oval go for three million and surprising and refreshing to see a vintage Breguet wristwatch go for almost two million, and ten times its estimate.

Reloaded also had some interesting results for vintage Audemars Piguet, by the way – including a John Sheaffer Minute Repeater (CHF 254,000 on an estimate of 25,000 – 50,000) a John Sheaffer Starwheel Minute Repeater (CHF 106,680 on an estimate of 25,000 – 50,000) and a ref. 25463, the first ever series produced automatic tourbillon and for decades the thinnest tourbillon in the world (CHF 101,600, on an estimate of 20,000 – 40,000). All of which makes me wonder whether AP isn’t leaving a lot of money or at least a lot of brand equity on the table by relying so heavily on the Royal Oak and variants – don’t get me wrong, the RO is a fine watch but AP’s history is so much more rich than a single model.

Journe in one of the top 3 slots at all auctions is interesting as well – at the very least, interest remains strong and prices remain healthy; all four watches sold for multiples over their estimates, albeit this is tempered somewhat by the fact that all four are rare and in one case, rreplaceably historically important (other Journe lots performed closer to their estimates). Those four Journe watches represent a total sales figure of CHF 12,022,200, which is a healthy fraction of Phillips’ sales total for both its Geneva auctions ($58 million).

It will be interesting to see how the next year unfolds in terms of appreciation for complications and for high quality watchmaking – real haute horlogerie – against the continued strength of brand image. It’s not an either-or proposition of course, but as the collector market continues to settle down from the explosive growth of the pandemic years, it could be that this is the time to shine for high quality watchmaking, regardless of the brand name on the dial.