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Hammer time: The 7 most expensive wristwatches ever sold at auction

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Hammer time: The 7 most expensive wristwatches ever sold at auction

CNA Luxury counts down the top tickers that take tickled collectors' fancies.

Hammer time: The 7 most expensive wristwatches ever sold at auction

The Rolex Paul Newman Daytona Ref. 6239. (Photograph: Phillips)

27 Mar 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 04 Jul 2022 03:58PM)

The nearly coveted wristwatches in the world come from simply ii watch brands: Rolex and Patek Philippe.

Kickoff of all, it should be noted that these aren't the priciest watches ever sold – not past a long shot. Those records are held by heavily bejewelled timepieces and pocket watches with room for complications in the double digits. These are the watches that are sought afterward for their fascinating provenance, rarity and historical significance.

Second of all, information technology would announced that appreciation for fine timepieces is far from unpleasing as these records were all broken in the concluding four years and, to a less surprising extent, headlined past watch titans Rolex and Patek Philippe.

No precious stones in elaborate settings to add glimmer (and zeroes) hither; but pure, unadulterated haute horlogerie scooped up past the almost ardent and discerning of collectors.

READ> Sell your Rolex Daytona and yous could make almost double what you paid

Rolex Daytona Unicorn Ref. 6265
CHF  five.9 million (Southward$7.95 million)

Phillips Geneva, May 12, 2018

The Rolex Daytona Unicorn Ref. 6265. (Photo: The Hour Glass/Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo)

When information technology comes to luxury vintage watches, steel models tend to command college prices because of their rarity. But the reverse is true for the Rolex Daytona "Unicorn".  In a collection known for sporty steel watches (with a few xanthous gold outliers), the Unicorn was the merely Ref. 6265 ever made in white aureate. Information technology was supposedly commissioned by a German watch retailer in 1971, and eventually ended up in the easily of watch author and collector John Goldberger in 2013. He generously put it upward for auction with all gain going to the Children Action charity.

Patek Philippe Titanium Ref. 5208T-010
CHF six.2 million (S$8.35 one thousand thousand)

Christie's Geneva, Nov 11, 2017

The Patek Philippe Titanium Ref. 5208T-010. (Photo: Patek Philippe)

Patek Philippe'due south legendary collectability means its contributions to Merely Watch, an auction that benefits inquiry on Duchenne muscular dystrophy, are always considerable. For 2017's auction it presented the Ref. 5208T-010, a chiliad complication housing a infinitesimal repeater, monopusher chronograph and perpetual calendar. Information technology mirrors the standard model in size and part, but offered in titanium, a cloth non oft used past Patek Philippe. Unique to the Simply Watch model is an engine-turned, woven guilloche pattern on the dial and micro-rotor.

Patek Philippe Stainless Steel Ref. 5016A-010
CHF vii.iii meg (S$ix.83 1000000)

Phillips Geneva, November vii, 2015

The Patek Philippe Stainless Steel Ref. 5016A-010. (Photo: Patek Philippe)

Comprising a minute repeater, retrograde perpetual calendar and tourbillon, the Ref. 5016 was Patek Philippe'due south about complicated wristwatch dorsum when it launched in 1993. Information technology was discontinued in 2011, only made a surprise improvement in a unique piece offered to Only Scout in 2015. Traditionally made simply in precious metal, this reference is the only ane in steel and features a nighttime blue enamel dial. It is as well the first fourth dimension the brand has offered a steel watch for this auction.

Patek Philippe "L'Heure Bleu" Ref. 2523
HK$70.2 million (South$12.ii million)

Christie's Hong Kong, Nov 23, 2019

The Patek Philippe "L'Heure Bleu" Ref. 2523. (Photo: Christie's)

The reason you lot've probably never seen a Patek Philippe quite like this one is because the "L 'Heure Bleu" is outrageously rare for a number of reasons. The make fabricated very few double crown earth fourth dimension watches in its history and this piece from 1953 is just i of 7 ever crafted in pink aureate. It is likely also the only slice to exist signed past both Patek Philippe and Gobbi, the Milan-based retailer information technology was originally given to. On summit of that, it is one of just ii known references to feature a solid bluish enamel dial heart. It shows the fourth dimension of such "exotic" locations as Reunion island, the Azores, Marshall islands and, funnily enough, Singapore. It is the most expensive wristwatch auctioned in Asia.

Patek Philippe Stainless Steel Ref. 1518
CHF eleven million (S$14.viii million)

Phillips Geneva, November 12, 2016

The Patek Philippe Stainless Steel Ref. 1518. (Photo: Phillips)

Patek Philippe earned the bragging rights to being the first in the world to serially produce a perpetual calendar chronograph back in 1941, which is what makes the Ref. 1518 and so desirable. Only 281 pieces were fabricated over the form of xiii years, with the bulk cased in yellow gold and effectually 44 pieces in pink gold. Which brings usa to this lot: the Ref. 1518 with instance number 508473(1), the very get-go of just four made in stainless steel, and the last to be sold at sale.

Rolex Paul Newman Daytona Ref. 6239
Usa$17.8 million (S$24.12 million)

Phillips New York, October 26, 2017

The case dorsum of the Rolex Paul Newman Daytona Ref. 6239. (Photo: Phillips)

When Rolex started making Daytona models with "exotic" dials bearing brilliant, Fine art Deco-inspired designs and contrasting sub dials, information technology was about laughed out of the market. That is, until Paul Newman took to the one his wife Joanne Woodward gave him in the early 1970s and wore it for the next 15 years of his auto racing career. The popularity of exotic punch Daytona watches has since exploded (further boosted by the fact that Rolex didn't make a lot of them due to poor sales) and they eventually became known as Paul Newman Daytonas. The actor's own model currently holds the tape for the 2nd-highest price achieved for a wristwatch at auction.

Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300A
US$31 million (S$42 million)

Christie'south Geneva, Nov 9, 2019

Patek Philippe has proven at the recent Just Sentinel auction that it doesn't need provenance or precious metals to send those paddles into a tizzy. Not merely did the 1-of-a-kind Grandmaster Chime in steel come up out on tiptop at the biennial auction (which it almost always does), it is now also the most expensive wristwatch e'er sold at any auction. And it's modernistic. Unlike Patek Philippe'due south Henry Graves Supercomplication pocket spotter from 1933 (which sold for CHF23.2 meg) and Paul Newman'due south Rolex Daytona, this piece is only a unique variant of the Grandmaster Chime, the brand's virtually complicated wristwatch first introduced in 2014. The reversible case features ii dials, one black and 1 salmon and holds twenty complications. Proceeds will go to enquiry for muscular dystrophy.

READ> How to collect watches as an investment: Tips from the world's foremost watch auctioneer

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