THE INDOMITABLE HUMANITY OF BACS AND RUSSO

AUCTION HOUSE PHILLIPS HAS REPORTED A WORLD RECORD-BREAKING US$290 MILLION IN WATCH AUCTIONS IN 2025. PUNDITS HAVE GIVEN ALL SORTS OF EXPLANATIONS FOR IT, BUT I THINK WE WOULD HAVE SEEN IT COMING IF WE HAD LISTENED CLOSELY TO THE PEOPLE HOLDING THE HAMMER.

- WORDS SUFFIAN HAKIM PHOTOS PHILLIPS

IN 2025, WATCH AUCTIONS at acclaimed auction house Phillips realised over US$290 million (S$373 million), a new world record, surpassing the previous benchmark of US$227 million that Phillips itself had set in 2022. This marks the fifth consecutive year that they've recorded sales exceeding US$200 million and comes on the 10th anniversary of Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo, the watches arm of the auction house.

The total figure—US$290,463,315—comes from the sale of 1,802 lots (up from 1,556 in 2024, 1,525 in 2023, and 1,737 in 2022), with 36 timepieces exceeding US$1 million. Two of them were sold for above US$10 million, and Phillips remains the only auction house to sell timepieces in those figures.

Among the pieces sold last year was a magnificent Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Ref. 1518 in Stainless Steel sold for US$17,631,075, the most valuable vintage Patek Philippe wristwatch ever sold at auction and the most valuable timepiece sold at auction globally in 2025.

There are a few interesting things about its 2025 performance, other than the fact that record-keepers have some rewriting to do.

First, it equates to 45 per cent of the total watch auction market, far bigger when compared with its two principal international competitors, Christie's and Sotheby's, the other two in the so-called Big Three of watch auctioneering.

Second, hammer prices plus buyer's premiums totalled 246 per cent of the pre-sale low estimates. Of this, 59 per cent of the 1,802 lots sold above their high estimates, 62 per cent met or exceeded their mid estimates, and 98 per cent sold above their low estimates. This is to the point that the average price per watch in this year’s auctions adds up to just above US$161,000, far exceeding the next highest in the past three years: US$140,983 in 2023.