Rare Patek Philippe pocket watch leads Sotheby's auction

An extremely rare pocket watch by Patek Philippe led a recent auction of ‘Important Watches’ at Sotheby’s in Geneva. The watch, which surpassed its estimate (CHF 2,80,000-3,80,000) to reach CHF 4,72,000, was sold to a private Swiss collector. Thought to be one of the only two models of reference 844 in white gold, this minute-repeating perpetual-calendar watch with moonphases from 1973 bears a full digital display of day, month and date, held within a single aperture.

Another rare stainless-steel Patek Philippe wristwatch with black dial and Breguet numerals soared to more than ten times its pre-sale estimate (CHF 20,000-40,000), reaching CHF 3,28,000. A world auction record for a Heuer watch was set when Formula One driver Ronnie Peterson’s Heuer Carrera watch sold for CHF 2,25,000, over 20 times the pre-sale estimate of CHF 10,000-20,000. Six passionate collectors vied for the watch during a ten-minute bidding battle. 

Vacheron Constantin Art Deco Timepiece​

Eight avid collectors vied for a 1926 desk timepiece by Vacheron Constantin, in collaboration with Verger Frères. The piece, which features a mother-of-pearl dial by Vladimir Makovsky was estimated at CHF 80,000-1,20,000 and sold for CHF 4,30,000. 

The total sale value of the auction was CHF 4,051,813.