Christie’s 2010 Watch Sales Highest Ever at $91 Million


Christie's 2010 Sales Results

Christie’s wrapped up a record-breaking year for fine timepieces, realizing $91.2 million in total sales – the highest annual total ever for the the global auction house. Patek Philippe dominated the results, capturing each of the year’s top 10 positions for wristwatch sales. In all, five Pateks sold for more than $1 million apiece. Look inside for images of the top sellers, and a list of Christie’s Top 10 for 2010.

Christie’s achieved more world records in 2010 than any other auction house, and every sale saw a sell-through rate of more than 90 percent by value. The top watch of the year was a unique Patek Philippe ref. 1527 perpetual calendar chronograph manufactured in 1943 that achieved a record $5.7 million at Christie’s Geneva sale.

Christie's 2010 Top Lot

A Patek Philippe ref. 2523 “world time” manufactured in 1953 finished in second position. This is the larger 35.5mm version of the reference, and only 14 examples are known to have come to auction. This piece brought $2.7 million, a world-record price for this reference.

Christie' Lot 114

Third position is occupied by an 18K pink gold Patek Philippe perpetual calendar chronograph with moon phases, ref. 2499, manufactured in 1957. Only seven rose gold reference 2499 second series are known, and this is the only example with date disks in German. This piece brought $1.2 million.

Christie's Lot 234

Placing fourth for the year is a Patek Philippe split seconds chronograph with two-tone pulsation dial. This ref. 1563 was originally manufactured in 1940, and upgraded to the present case in 1943. It brought $1.1 million.

Christie's Lot 328

The final piece to bring more than $1 million is a reference 5002P, the Sky Moon Tourbillon. This platinum manually-wound double-dialed wristwatch with 12 complications brought $1.1 million.

Patek Philippe 5002P

These are the top 10 watches sold by Christie’s in 2010.

Christie's Top 10 for 2010
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