This is a record for a sale of watches solely via the Internet: Christie's has just auctioned online a treasure trove of horological complications, a Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon, for 5.3 million euros.
Or two-thirds of the amount of this sale organized from Hong Kong, and which will have attracted a total of 7.8 million euros in bids.
For Alexandre Bigler, Vice-President Watches of Christie's Asia Pacific, with bidders from 48 different countries,
“The exceptional results of this “Watches Online: Top of the Time” sale demonstrate the ability of Christie's online sales platform to achieve exceptional prices, just like our live sales.
There is still an extremely vibrant market for watches around the world, as evidenced by the fierce global auctions this sale will have witnessed.
This
is enough to reassure the fact that Hong Kong remains one of the world's centers of gravity for watchmaking passion, and prove to what extent a new generation of collectors is putting no brakes on online shopping.
Indeed, Millennials represent 40% of online shoppers.
A Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon, auctioned online for 5.3 million euros.
Christie's
This lot 111, a Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon Ref.
6002G-001 purchased by the current owner at the Patek Philippe Salon in Geneva in 2015, is one of the greatest contemporary masterpieces from the legendary Geneva house.
Among Patek Philippe's most complex and impressive creations, this reference 6002G effortlessly combines immense mechanical complication with stunning aesthetics and legibility.
This double-sided Grande Complication features 12 complications, housed in an extraordinary sculptural white gold case 44 mm in diameter, entirely hand-chiselled and engraved with elegant, almost three-dimensional scrollwork, which takes the masters more than 100 hours to complete. Patek Philippe artisans.
Its exquisite blue dial is crafted from a disc of gold decorated by the master craftsmen of Patek Philippe's Rare Handcrafts division with cloisonné and champlevé enamel in a foliate pattern to match the case decoration.
The complications of this Reference 6002G include a superb minute repeater with two “cathedral” gongs and a tourbillon.
The front dial indicates the hours and minutes (mean solar time) and displays the perpetual calendar with a retrograde date, the months at 3 o'clock, the days of the week at 9 o'clock, the indication of leap years at 12 o'clock, clock and moon phases at 6 o'clock.
The second dial displays the astronomical functions with a stellar map of the northern sky, hands indicating sidereal time, extremely precise moon phases indicating the rising and setting of the moon's orbit.
The case has two crowns, the lower crown for winding and adjusting the hour and minute hands, the upper crown for adjusting the sidereal hands, the starry landscape and the
A Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon, auctioned online for 5.3 million euros.
Christie's
In the 1960s, the minute repeater wristwatch fell into oblivion.
But in 1989, Philippe Stern decided to reintroduce minute repeaters into the company's production, as part of the company's 150th anniversary celebrations.
This decision turned out to be a masterstroke;
Since then, Patek Philippe has always included minute repeaters in its regular production, paving the way for their continued development.
Around 200 to 300 hours of work are required to assemble a minute repeater movement and only the most experienced master watchmakers are allowed to undertake this task.
To refine the sound reproduction, Patek Philippe even worked in collaboration with the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne - EPFL) and the École Polytechnique de Genève where experiments with alloys took place in order to find an ideal formula for a metal that creates superb sonic qualities for Patek Philippe repeating gongs.
In the reference 6002G Sky Moon Tourbillon, two extra-long "cathedral" gongs offer astonishing richness and clarity.
Almost twice as long as regular gongs, both wrap twice around the movement.
A Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon, auctioned online for 5.3 million euros.
Christie's
The second 6002G reference dial displays a detailed map of the Northern Hemisphere night sky.
An elliptical outline surrounds the portion of the night sky that is visible from a specific location.
This patented module has a transparent crystal disc rotating once per sidereal day which is the basis of the sidereal time display with two hands and a 24-hour scale.
The sky chart also depicts the angular motion of the stars and the moon, the meridian passages of Sirius and the moon, and the waxing and waning phases of the moon.
The disc is driven by means of teeth on its circumference, concealed from view by the bezel, comparable to the mechanism of "mystery" clocks.
