On Nov. 27, 2021, Christie's Hong Kong Watches Department created another chapter in horological world auction history with the day auction An Exceptional Season of Watches including The Champion Collection (Part 1) and the evening auction Timeless Marvels, realizing a combined total of HK $228,077,500/ US $29,388,699, pushing the category's annual sale total in Asia to HK $559 million/ US $72 million for the unprecedented offerings, across four live and five online-only auctions.
Four world auction records were set for references across both sales including Patek Philippe references: 1436J, 2419 and 2497J and Richard Mille Pink Sapphire Ref. 07-02.
Top lot of the sales was Lot 2508, Patek Philippe, a unique 18k gold minute repeating wristwatch with blackened hands and index, large subsidiary second dial, repeating slider and crown, Ref. 2419, retailed by Cartier, manufactured in 1946. Price realized: HK $23,050,000/ US $2,970,085.
The sales achieved a combined sell-through rate of 87 percent, with almost 30 percent of lots sold via Christie's Live. The bustling saleroom invited bidding by an extensive collector base from 22 countries across four continents, as well as a contingent of millennial buyers who accounted for more than 40 percent of new buyers.
This story is from the January/February 2022 edition of Watch Time.
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This story is from the January/February 2022 edition of Watch Time.
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