Overview
- Phillips’ Geneva Watch Auction: XXIII, held May 9–10, totaled CHF 74.8 million ($96.3 million), the highest result ever for a watch auction.
- A rare Patek Philippe Ref. 2523 “South America” led the sale at more than $10.2 million, setting a world record for the reference.
- Intense global interest, with 1,815 bidders from 74 countries, drove a near sell-out with all but one lot finding a buyer.
- The auction set 43 world records as prices rose for independents and specialist pieces, highlighted by F. P. Journe’s two-tone Résonance above $6.2 million and a Louis Richard pocket chronometer at about $5.1 million.
- Sotheby’s Geneva Important Watches realized more than $19 million, led by a 1916 A. Lange & Söhne Grande Complication at about $2 million, a brand auction record.