This Patek Philippe watch becomes the most expensive ever sold online
Yesterday, Christie’s auction house sold a sublime Patek Philippe watch online for 5.3 million euros. This makes it the most expensive watch ever sold on the internet.
The very famous American auction house Christie’s has just exceeded a new sales record. The Sky Moon Tourbillon, a jewel of watchmaking complication signed Patek Philippe, was sold for 5.3 million euros. A record for an online sale. This amount alone represents two thirds of the profits of these auctions, called Watches Online: Top of the Time, which totaled 7.8 million euros.
The remote and virtual auction, held in Hong Kong, attracted bidders from 48 countries, both watch enthusiasts and timepiece collectors.
“The exceptional results of this sale demonstrate the ability of Christie’s online auction platform to achieve exceptional prices, just like our live sales. There continues to be an extremely dynamic market for watches around the world, as evidenced by the fierce global auctions witnessed in this sale,” said Alexandre Bigler, Christie’s Asia Pacific Vice President of Watches.
These figures also demonstrate that Hong Kong remains one of the world’s centers of gravity for watches and that this market, despite the crisis and inflation, remains stable and prosperous.
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12 complications
The Sky Moon Tourbillon, still referred to as reference 6002G-001 by Patek Philippe, is one of the Swiss watchmaker’s greatest creations.
This exceptional watch combines 12 complications with rare aesthetics and stunning details. It is housed in a magnificent white gold case measuring 44 mm in diameter, entirely handcrafted and engraved with spiral and relief ornaments. A true work of goldsmith that took the House’s master craftsmen over 100 hours to complete.
The royal blue dial is made from a gold disc, still decorated by the master craftsmen of the Geneva brand. The back is decorated with a vegetal motif, evoking leaves, in a more intense turquoise color. The first dial shows the hours and minutes, the months at 3 o’clock, the moon phases at 6 o’clock, the days of the week at 9 o’clock and the leap years at 12 o’clock. The second dial displays the astronomical functions with a star chart of the northern sky.
After the aesthetics, the technique. The complications of this excellent timepiece include a minute repeater with two gongs (editor’s note: small bells struck by a hammer) and a tourbillon.
The case has two crowns, the small screws usually placed to the left of the dial. The lower crown allows the winding and adjustment of the hour and minute hands, and the higher one, the adjustment of the sidereal hands, the starry landscape and the orbit of the moon.
Collector, astronomer and…dreamer, you must have a particular profile and…the means to be able to wear this real jewel on your wrist.
Minute repeater
First forgotten and then brought back to life by the head of Patek Philippe, the minute repeater wristwatch made a comeback in the 1990s, before becoming a must-have. This watchmaking technique is a mechanism that strikes the time on demand, when a push-button or a lock is activated.
Since then, Patek Philippe has always included this watchmaking complication in its regular production. Approximately 200 to 300 hours of work are required to assemble a minute repeater movement. And only the greatest master watchmakers are allowed to undertake this task. All of which justifies its high price.
To take its mastery of alloys and know-how even further, the Geneva-based brand has worked closely with the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne and Geneva. Experiments took place to find the ideal formula for a metal that creates superb sound qualities.
This Sky Moon Tourbillon combines unique craftsmanship, unparalleled beauty and complex technicality. It is easy to understand why it is the most expensive watch ever sold online.
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