Oct 1, 2013
Reading time 4 min.
A Record-Breaking Patek Philippe Highlights Top 5 Watches from Only Watch 2013
The fifth edition of the biennial "Only Watch" auction took place over the weekend at the Hermitage Hotel in Monaco. When the final hammer fell, the auction of unique timepieces had raised 5,066,000 euros for research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and a Patek Philippe Ref. 5004T fetched the highest price ever paid for a modern wristwatch at auction.
The Patek Philippe watch, the first and only one of its reference with a titanium case, was the subject of fierce bidding among the gathered collectors and philanthropists, who hailed from all corners of the globe. Its final sale price was an astonishing, and record-breaking 2,950,000 euros. Reference 5004, produced between 1995 and 2011 as part of Patek's Grand Complications collection, is a manual-wind chronograph containing Caliber CHR 27-70 Q, a Nouvelle Lémania base movement produced exclusively for Patek, to which Patek's watchmakers added a split-seconds mechanism and a perpetual calendar. the "T' at the end of the reference number in this version signifies the unique titanium case. The watch far exceeded its pre-sale estimate of 400,000 - 600,000 euros.
Patek Philippe - Only Watch 2013
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The next highest sum went to Richard Mille's Tourbillon Prototype Yohan Blake, the watch worn by Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake during the 2012 London Olympic Games, in which he won three medals. The watch is based on Richard Mille's RM038 Tourbillon (the watch worn by professional golfer Bubba Watson) and features the colors of the Jamaican flag. The watch did not meet its very high estimate of 450,000 - 500,000 euros, but still sold at a respectable 350,000 euros.
Richard Mille - Only Watch 2013
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A relative newcomer to the luxury watch world, Laurent Ferrier copped the third highest price (130,000 euros) with its Galet Classic Tourbillon Double Spirale. The watch's movement incorporates two head-to-tail mounted balance springs in the center of the balance, a system developed to maintain the center of the balance firmly on its axis while also compensating for the effect of gravity. It has a steel, pebble-shaped case (“galet” is French for “pebble”), a ball-shaped crown, and a sand-toned grand feu enamel dial, mounted on an 18k gold plate, with a tone-on-tone silhouette of a dove and a depiction of the Monaco coat of arms.
Laurent Ferrier Only Watch 2013
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Two watches earned 120,000 euros, Breguet's Classique Chronographe 5284 (which met its estimate of 100,000 - 120,000 euros) and DeWitt's Twenty-8 Eight Skeleton Tourbillon (which fell short of its estimated 250,000 - 300,000 range). The Breguet Classique Chronograph Openworked 5284 (below) has a yellow-gold case with fine fluting on the caseband that echoes that of historic timepieces made by Abraham-Louis Breguet. The watch's open-tipped hour and minute hands were first designed by Breguet in 1873, and its movement is Caliber 533.2 SQ, a skeletonized, column-wheel chronograph movement based on a 1940s version.
Breguet - Only Watch 2013
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The DeWitt Twenty-8-Eight High Jewelry Skeleton Tourbillon (below) features a skeletonized tourbillon movement, Caliber DW8028s, made in-house by DeWitt. Its 43-mm white gold case is set with 36 baguette-cut diamonds and 104 brilliant-cut diamonds and features the DeWitt collection's "imperial columns" motif on the flanks.
DeWitt - Only Watch 2013
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The remaining watches that garnered six-figure sales prices were Hublot's Classic Fusion Skeleton Tourbillon, Christophe Claret's X-Trem 1 Pinball watch, and Vacheron Constantin's Patrimony Traditionnelle World Time, all of which went for 100,000 euros.
This year's Only Watch, which took place during the Monaco Yacht Show, was the most successful Only Watch auction ever, featuring 33 unique timepieces from Backes & Strauss, Bell & Ross, Blancpain, Breguet, Chanel, Chopard, Chronoswiss, Christophe Claret, Corum, Cyrus, deLaCour, De Bethune, DeWitt, Frédérique Constant, Girard Perregaux, Harry Winston, Hublot, Ikepod, Jaquet Droz, Julien Coudray, Laurent Ferrier, Louis Vuitton, Maurice Lacroix, Montblanc, Patek Philippe, Piaget, Richard Mille, Roger Dubuis, Armin Strom, Ulysse Nardin, Vacheron Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Zenith.
“It was an honor for Antiquorum to once again support the Only Watch auction benefiting research for Duchenne muscular dystrophy," said Julien Schaerer, Managing Director Antiquorum Geneva. "We would like to thank all participants for making the fifth edition of Only Watch such a resounding success and helping to spread awareness of this debilitating disease across the globe."
Luc Pettavino, president of the Monegasque Association Against Muscular Dystrophy and founder of Only Watch, added, "Only Watch is a very special project that implies an incredible cooperation based on free will and contributions made with a benevolent state of mind. It’s all about a group of people united for research on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, united to give hope, and the exceptional 5 million euro realized for Only Watch 2013 is a group effort of all the generous participants involved."
