At Auction: The Antiquorum ONLY Watch Auction for Muscular Dystrophy

The Antiquorum ONLY Watch Auction for Muscular Dystrophy is like the all-star game of watch auctions. Many of watchmaking’s elite watch brands donate special editions to the auction, held biennially to benefit the Monegasque Association against Muscular Dystrophies (AMM).  Antiquorum and AMM are organizing it together with the Monaco Yacht Show. Luc Pettavino, president of AMM, conceived the ONLY Watch Auction in 2005 to help find a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a debilitating neuromuscular disease that affects one boy in every 3,500.  Pettavino’s son, Paul, suffers from the disease. One hundred percent of the proceeds of the sale of the watch go to muscular dystrophy research. Since its inception, the ONLY Watch Auction has raised 10-million Euro for the cause.

Beginning September 6, the ONLY Watch Auction collection will be on a world exhibition tour, with stops at Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, New York and end at the Monaco Yacht Show, where it will be on display from September 25 to 28. The auction will take place on September 28 at 11 a.m. in the “Salle Belle Epoque” of the Hôtel Hermitage in Monaco. Here is a selection of some of the watches in the collection.

Top picture: The Christophe Claret X-TREM-1 Pinball is meant to symbolize children’s play. Tiny metal balls indicate hours and minutes through grilled sapphire tubes. This, along with bumpers, slingshots and balls, are all meant to evoke a pinball machine. X-TREM stands for eXperimental, Time, Research, Engineering and Mechanism.

The Blancpain ONLY watch for Women, with mother-of-pearl marquetry depicting a dove in flight and diamond bezel. The rotor, visible through the caseback, is also engraved with the image of a dove.

A special edition Breguet Classique Chronograph Openworked, a column-wheel chronograph, with a skeletonized movement. The case is 18k yellow gold, with the brand’s signature fluted caseband.

The Chopard L.U.C Tourbillon ONLY Watch is a one-of-a-kind platinum tourbillon with a hand-engraved dial in a motif that represents the coat of arms of the Principality of Monaco, surrounded by DNA chromosomes ( a reminder of the degenerative neuromuscular disease).