The Christie’s Hong Kong watches spring auctions on May 24 fetched a combined sale total of HK$299,004,780 (US$38,269,921), a record amount that marked the highest ever sale for the category for the luxury auction house across Asia.
Two live auctions, “The Champion Collection Part III: the Artistry of Complications” and “Important Watches and the Rise of The Independent Watchmakers, Featuring the Kairos Collection Part II”, were held. The former attained HK$156,889,860 (US$20,080,490), while the latter garnered HK$142,114,923 (US$18,189,431). The sale of the two auctions is 139 per cent above their total estimate.
The top lots of the auctions feature rare pieces from Patek Philippe. In “Champion Collection”, an 18K pink gold double-dial wristwatch that features 12 functions, including “cathedral” minute repeating tourbillon, perpetual calendar with retrograde date, moon age and angular motion, among others, fetched HK$24,450,000 (US$3,129,380), more than doubling its pre-sale low estimate of HK$10,000,000 (US$1,279,910).
Watches in the auctions also include pieces from Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin and Cartier, to name a few.
“This season, we are ecstatic to reach new heights and also continue our remarkable success in offering single-owner collections of the rarest and most in-demand timepieces,” says Alexandre Bigler, Vice President and Head of Watches at Christie’s Asia Pacific, in a press statement.
Bigler says he hopes the enthusiasm from the market will extend to upcoming auctions at Christie’s, including part three of the Kairos Collection, which will be held on June 8 and 9 in New York.
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