During Geneva’s traditional November auctions, Christie’s caused a sensation last year by recording the highest sales in 2009, almost doubling estimated prices to reach a total of 19 million Swiss francs. Among the treasures that were snapped up were 10 Patek Philippe watches from the famous “A Connoisseur’s Vision” private collection comprising over 50 extremely rare Patek Philippe watches. This private owner has once again entrusted Christie’s watch expert Aurel Bacs with twelve exceptional pieces worth around five million Swiss francs to be put up for sale at this major new auction in spring 2010.
So let’s start with the cream of the May crop by raising the veil on a few models in this “A Connoisseur’s Vision Part II” collection, and in particular one of Patek Philippe’s very first dual time-zone models, inspired in the late 1950s by the theme of intercontinental travel: reference 2597. This visionary GMT model introduced in 1963 was a commercial flop and was not actually purchased until the 1980s, having spent the intervening years in a showcase in a Patek Philippe salon. Sold for a few thousand francs, it has been maintained in its original condition until its current reappearance. Its rarity endows it with an estimated value of almost half a million Swiss francs. In an entirely different category, the star piece in the collection is a unique 1944 watch that is set to become the most expensive yellow gold Patek Philippe watch in auctioneering history. Doubtless made to order, its unique 38 mm tonneau-shaped case is larger than the standards of the era (35 mm was considered large for a men’s watch) and houses a chronograph movement with moon phases and a perpetual calendar. It is estimated at between 1.5 and 2.5 million Swiss francs.
Collectors’ dreams
Alongside this private collection, Patek Philippe enthusiasts will be drawn to several other rare models, including a small Calatrava (30 mm, reference 96), which is one of four to five of its kind known to date (half of which are in museums) equipped with a complete calendar. It is estimated at over CHF 600,000. An auction catalogue often reads like a story book, and you can just imagine the lucky discovery of an individual with no watchmaking knowledge nor a particular taste for timepieces, when he was leafing through the Patek Philippe magazine in a lawyer’s waiting room. He could hardly believe what he was seeing when he read about the prices being fetched at auction, and suddenly remembered his father’s Patek back home in a safe. Looking for the auctioneers with the most spectacular track record, he entrusted Christie’s with a perfectly maintained 1940s chronograph with a black dial – which was extremely rare at the time – that was duly evaluated at around 200,000 Swiss francs. So who else hasn’t taken a close look at their safe for a while? Another Patek that might look ordinary but is in fact very special, the 1970s Nautilus Jumbo on offer is one of just five to six known examples in white gold.
The selection of Rolex watches is another must for collectors and includes a particularly interesting chronograph made in 1945 for Beyer Zurich: this reference 4537 model is distinguished by its characteristic Oyster-type model combined with three Daytona counters and a black dial bearing the Beyer signature. If the tireless René Beyer wishes to acquire it for his museum on the Bahnhofstrasse, he will undoubtedly need to spend at least the 100,000 to 150,000 Swiss francs at which it is estimated.
In the shadow of Patek and Rolex
Among the other brands on show, Aurel Bacs hopes that the success achieved in November by the A. Lange & Söhne collection will be repeated in May, particularly for a Kalenderwoche watch made for Huber in Munich, or for the Langematik Anniversary in platinum with an enamel dial. Around ten limited-edition Lange models will be on offer.
Collectors will doubtless also be pleased to find watches by F.P.. Journe, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai (before it was bought up by Vendome) and Vacheron Constantin. The ever-present range of pocket-watches includes something for every budget. One of them belonged to King Ludwig II of Bavaria, who is still called the “fairytale prince” and who had drawn inspiration from Cinderella’s castle to build a fortress worthy of the Arabian Nights. Among his poetic creations are four or five extremely baroque watches known to have belonged to him personally, including this 1875 gold and enamel model set with diamonds and precious stones, nestling in its gem-set blue box and valued at around CHF 30,000.
If everything goes the way it did last autumn, the Geneva auction room should be hosting around 800 participants, 200 of them present in person, with others bidding by phone or over the internet from the four corners of the earth and still others having placed a firm bid in an envelope. For the past year, Asia and Europe have accounted for three-quarters of sales, with Europe having a slight edge in terms of average value and Asia for the number of lots – and the United States making only 20% of the purchases. In step with current economic trends, Christie’s has added a new stop-over in continental China to the world tour made by its pre-auction travelling exhibition.
