The last few days were high auction season in Geneva. Just one day after Phillips’s two-day sale that included the stainless steel Patek Philippe fake 1518, now the most expensive wristwatch ever sold, Christie’s offered nothing less than 320 watches, and with impressive results. At the end of the day, the Rare Watches sale had netted 14,702,500 CHF (approximately $14,864,227 at time of publishing), selling 88% of the lots. Both the best performing replica watches and the few unsold lots allow a number of interesting insights into the current state of the vintage market, some very much aligned with the main takeaways from the Phillips auction too.
Patek Philippe replica Pocket Watches Still Have Serious Appeal
A reproduction of Vermeer’s Milkmaid was enamel painted on this watch’s case.
This Christie’s sale definitely confirmed the strength of vintage Patek Philippe, as eight of the 10 top lots actually all came from the Geneva manufacture. But it was pocket replica watches in particular that outperformed expectations. One notable performance came from lot 143, a 1968 pocket fake watches uk bearing a reproduction of Vermeer’s “The Milkmaid” painting on its case, which realized $312,982. The enameling is by the legendary miniaturist Susanne Rohr, who began working with Patek in 1967. The strongest relative performance actually came from another pocket watch from Patek Philippe, lot 207, a full-set chronometer from 1864 which sold for 20x its high estimate as it eventually reached $264,126. These two lots alone made it clear that there is still an enthusiastic market for exceptional pocket replica watches uk, from all periods.
The Nautilus Is Still A Fan Favorite
Not your usual Patek Philippe Nautilus as it was made in white gold, back in 1978.
The top performers also included two rare Nautilus cheap replica watches from the 40-lot thematic sale that Christie’s is hosting across its four auctions this season. The white gold Nautilus 3700G achieved the strongest performance, as it doubled its pre-sale estimate, fetching $374,052. Of the 10 Nautilus models offered as a part of this sale in Geneva, only the yellow gold 3700/1 with “Khanjar” dial failed to reach its reserve, and ended up unclaimed. All in, the nine Nautilus lots brought approximately $1,449,390 – this represents almost 10% of the total sale by revenue, while the nine sold lots are just shy of 3% of the sale by volume.
Uniqueness Still Commands A Premium
This platinum-cased minute repeater is a unique piece from Audemars Piguet.
The fourth most expensive lot overall (and the most expensive non-Patek lot) was the Audemars Piguet minute repeater reference 3207 in platinum. It went for $386,266 as lot 39, squarely in the middle of the rather wide and high estimate. Given the very small number of minute repeaters ever made by Audemars Piguet, and this watch’s unique features and history, the result isn’t actually all that surprising. Unique, fresh-to-market pieces tend to be more exciting than well-known examples, which was reflected throughout Monday’s results at Christie’s.
The Daytona Market Isn’t Slowing Down Anytime Soon
Yellow gold case and “Paul Newman” dial for this Rolex Daytona reference 6241.
After Patek Philippe, Rolex was the other king at this auction – note that these two manufacturers alone represented 60% of all lots offered, quite a revealing number for their respective importance at auctions. Among the 70+ Rolex replica watches offered, the two Paul Newman Daytonas both reached or exceeded their high estimates, demonstrating once again the infatuation collectors have with these exotic dials, in different case metals and pusher/bezel configurations. The yellow gold reference 6241 (with pump pushers and black bezel) reached $300,768, while the stainless steel reference 6239 (with the same pump pushers but a steel bezel) surpassed its high estimate and hammered at $196,950. We keep waiting to see if the market for these special chronographs will slow down, but it seems like we’ll be waiting a little longer.