Patek Philippe and More Go Big at Antiquorum Auction

The Antiquorum May 13 auction at Geneva garnered a total of CHF 7,466,737, with bidders coming from around the globe including Hong Kong, Taiwan, The Russian Federation, Germany, the United States and Switzerland. Entitled “Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces, Featuring the 40^th Anniversary of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak,” the event spawned an aggressive bidding for the 469 collection-worthy pieces.

Patek Philippe Ref. 2523 “World Time” led the auction by selling at 1,190,500 CHF, over twice its estimated value. The amount testifies to the extreme rarity of this 18k gentleman’s wristwatch, adorned with a guilloche dial. The Patek Philippe Ref. 2526 with black dial proved to be another in-demand timepiece of the brand, going at CHF 86,500.

“Today’s remarkable result for the Patek Philippe World Time with guilloche dial is clear confirmation that the market is increasingly focused on pieces of the highest quality produced by the world’s most respected and recognized brands,” Julien Schaerer, Antiquorum Geneva Managing Director said.

The featured Audemars Piguet Royal Oak pieces were also of prominent bidding results. The Royal Oak Jumbo “A Series,” No. 88 was sold at CHF 40,000, over twice its high estimate and the Audemars Piguet Ref. 15400ST, Royal Oak No. 1 was sealed at CHF 32,500. The Rolex Ref. 5512, Submariner with pointed crown guards set a world record for having been sold at CHF 248,500, nearly nine times its high estimate. The auctioning of this former Mossad Director Isser Harel watch started with multiple bidders until CHF 100,000 and from there, two phone bidders took the battle to higher ground until the American contender closed the deal.

Another attention-grabbing watch was Vacheron & Constantin’s “The Lacemaker” with enamel scene by Charles Poluzzi. The stake was brought to a steeping amount of CHF 206,500, over ten times its high estimate.

After the immense success of this auction, Antiquorum looks forward to the June 12 New York auction, which will feature rare Patek Philippe timepieces and an extraordinary collection of Jaeger-LeCoultre wristwatches.

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Seth Semilof

Co-Founder & COO · Haute Time

Seth Semilof co-founded Haute Living and, with business partner Kamal Hotchandani, launched Haute Time, the brands' luxury timepiece site, to educate buyers about the best watches in the world and to showcase the passion of collectors and the CEOs who lead the great maisons. His love of watches began early: a TAG Heuer at 13, an Omega at 16, and his first Rolex at 20. Through Haute Time he has been honored to visit the greatest watch manufactures in the world and meet the master watchmakers behind them. He has also personally featured private collections exclusive to Haute Time, taking readers inside the watch boxes of Kevin Hart, Carmelo Anthony, Tony Robbins and Swizz Beatz.