Collector’s edition watches are one of the most lucrative auction items. These timeless timepieces are works of beauty to treasure forever, hand-crafted with masterful precision and decorated with a taste for luxury.
If you’re considering buying the most expensive watches ever sold, here’s a list of the most expensive watches ever sold.
15. PATEK PHILIPPE JB CHAMPION REF. 2458 (1952)
JB Champion was a well-known criminal defence attorney with a penchant for exquisite timepieces. This one-of-a-kind platinum watch was made just for him, with highly honed movements. The timepiece was sold for $3,993,000.
14. PLATINUM WORLD TIME REF. 1415 PATEK PHILIPPE (1939)
Made in the late 1930s, at a time when worldwide telecommunication was gaining traction. A spinning metal bezel etched with the names of cities across the world is featured on this early example of a world-time chronograph timepiece. The piece was sold for $4,027,000.
13. GEORGE DANIELS YELLOW GOLD SPACE TRAVELLER’S (1982)
When promoting this remarkable pocket-watch, the watchmaker asserted, “When you are on your package excursion to Mars, you need a watch like this.” Its double-wheel design keeps track of both solar and sidereal time, as well as the moon’s age and phase, and displays the equation of time. The watch is made of 18-carat yellow gold and costs $4,325,000.
12. BREGUET & FILS, PARIS, NO. 2667 (1814)
This 18-carat gold pocket watch from the 19th century is extremely uncommon. Within the same plate of this precise watch, there are two different movements. Calibred lever escapements surround the jewelled mechanism. This renowned collector’s piece, which was originally sold for 5,000 francs, raised a total of $4,686,000.
11. PATEK PHILIPPE STAINLESS STEEL REF. 130 (1927)
Only two instances of this monopusher-mechanism chronograph are known to exist in the world (the other one is on permanent display in the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva). It has a silvered dial with two subsidiary dials and Arabic numerals, as well as a Victorin-Piguet 13-inch ebauche movement. The stainless-steel model’s rarity contributes significantly to its worth. This watch sold for $4,987,000.
10. PATEK PHILIPPE WHITE GOLD CALIBRE 89 (1989)
A white gold version of the Calibre 89 was sold for $5,003,000 and has all of the same features as the yellow gold version.
9. PATEK PHILIPPE YELLOW GOLD CALIBRE 89 (1989)
The Calibre 89 was created to commemorate the brand’s 150th anniversary and was acclaimed as the most sophisticated pocket watch at the time. It took nine years to create and includes 33 complications, 24 hands, and a whopping 1,728 components. The watch, which is made of 18-carat yellow gold, includes a thermometer, a star chart, and a moonphase display. It’s over a kg in weight. The Calibre 89 was sold for a total of $5,042,000.
8. ROLEX BAO DAI REF. 6062 (1952)
Bao Dai, Vietnam’s penultimate emperor, owned it. This watch, which was purchased on a vacation to Geneva, is the stuff of tales. With a triple calendar and moonphase indicator, a black dial, and diamond indices, this watch is made of yellow gold. The watch has a chronometer-certified automatic movement and a waterproof Oyster casing. It sold for $5,060,000 and is as easy to read as it is rare and famous.
7. PATEK PHILIPPE GOLD CHRONOGRAPH REF. 1527 (1943)
This one-of-a-kind timepiece was made during World War II and bears the trademarks of the era. This chronograph timepiece includes an 18-carat rose gold case with a perpetual calendar mechanism. It also has a moonphase indicator and a tonneau-shaped casing. The watch’s lever mechanism is nickel-plated, and the dial is set with 23 jewels. The dial is embellished with Arabic digits. The 1527 was sold for $5,709,000 in total.
6. ROLEX DAYTONA UNICORN REF. 6265 (1970)
This one-of-a-kind timepiece, dubbed the ‘Unicorn’ given its striking and uncommon white-gold design, raised $5,937,000. John Goldberger, a watch collector, gave the entire sum to the charity Children Action. The dial is black with white gold indices, and the back is engraved with 18-carat gold. The Unicorn is a one-of-a-kind luxury sports watch with a manual winding movement and a stainless-steel crown. The strap was replaced with a white gold bracelet that Goldberger added.
5. PATEK PHILIPPE TITANIUM REF. 5208T-010 (2017)
In 2017, this Grand Complication wristwatch was made for the Only Watch charity auction, and it sold for $6,226,000. The timepiece is a self-winding minute repeater with a chronograph and a perpetual calendar that shows the passage of time. It stands out thanks to its unique titanium case, which adds to the watch’s worth. The watch is available with two casebacks: one made of solid titanium and the other with sapphire crystal.
4. PATEK PHILIPPE STAINLESS STEEL REF. 5016A-010 (2015)
This one-of-a-kind item was created in 2015 for the Only Watch auction, which sold for $7,259,000. Only Watch is a charity auction that takes place every two years to raise money for muscular dystrophy research. Patek Philippe’s 5016A-010 was the most intricate watch they had ever made at the time. It had a stainless-steel case and a dial with Arabic digits in blue enamel. A tourbillon minute repeater and a moonphase calendar are included in this hand-wound watch.
3. PATEK PHILIPPE STAINLESS STEEL REF. 1518 (1943)
The overall price of this perpetual calendar wristwatch with chronograph was $11,137,000. The watch was the first of its kind and is uncommon for being a complicated timepiece in such a basic metal. It was painstakingly made in stainless steel, 35mm in diameter, manually wound, and with an ebauche movement by Valjoux. There are just four known instances in the world.
2. ROLEX PAUL NEWMAN DAYTONA REF. 6230 (1968)
Paul Newman, the Hollywood icon, owns the property. The Daytona Ref. 6230 has garnered a cult following (some even dubbing it the “Holy Grail” of luxury timepieces). Joanne Woodward gave it to the actor as a gift, and he wore it all the time while pursuing a career in motor racing. He gave it to his daughter’s lover in 1984, and its whereabouts were unknown for decades until it surfaced in 2017 and sold for $17,753,000 at Bacs & Russo at New York’s “Winning Icons: Milestone Watches of the 20th Century” auction.
1. PATEK PHILIPPE HENRY GRAVES SUPERCOMPLICATION (1932)
Patek Philippe’s 18-carat gold watch contains a total of 24 complications, making it one of the most complicated timepieces ever made. It was commissioned by Henry Graves Jr., a billionaire in the banking and railway industries who wanted to beat out James Ward’s Packard Grande Complication. This eight-year-in-the-making pocket watch sold for $23,983,000.
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