This Record-Setting Patek Philippe Is The Priciest Watch Ever Sold In Asia

Here’s why this 1950s-era multi-complication timepiece just sold for over $10 million.

One of eight seven-figure wristwatches that crossed the block at Phillips’ Hong Kong Watch Auction: XXII is officially most expensive ever sold in Asia. Those who track the top of the collectible timepiece market might be able to guess that the model in question is a Patek Philippe, which accounts for several of the top 10 priciest watches auctioned. Patek’s Ref. 2499, produced at an average rate of nine per year between 1950 and 1985, combined a perpetual calendar, chronograph, and moon-phase display. Of the four distinct series produced at different intervals, the first series (1950-1955) of 40 watches featuring square chronograph buttons and applied Arabic numerals are considered the most desirable.

The particular Ref. 2499 that sold in Hong Kong was produced as part of the first series in 1951—a status that already makes it a grail lot. However, it’s further distinguished by a “Vichet” flat caseback and claw-shaped lugs, an element not seen after 1953, according to Phillips. Pushing the value over the top, it’s one of four Vichet cases rendered in pink gold, and the watch was sold in entirely unrestored condition—over its 70-plus years, the lug’s fluting has remained crisp and the dial’s enameled “Geneve” accent hasn’t worn.

The winning bid hit a staggering HK$80,370,000, or $10,255,212, setting a new record for Ref. 2499 and making it the fifth-most expensive watch ever sold at auction, behind the Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime ($31.19 million), the Patek Philippe Henry Graves Supercomplication ($24 million), the Rolex Daytona “Paul Newman” ($17.75 million), and the Patek Philippe Ref. 1518 in stainless steel ($17.6 million).

The combined performance of other high-value lots, many of which were also Patek Philippes, helped Phillips achieve its most successful sale on the continent. Among them, a Patek Ref. 3448, double-signed by Beyer Chronometrie and nicknamed “Tokyo White,” notched $1.8 million, while a custom Patek Ref. 5970R, commissioned for renowned entrepreneur and collector Michael Ovitz and embossed with an MSO monogram, set a model record at $1.6 million, 1.6 times its pre-sale high estimate. An F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain “Chine 2010”—one of only five examples produced and the only known example housed in a 38mm platinum case—also shattered expectations when it jumped pastthe $1 million top of its pre-auction estimate to fetch $4.2 million.

 “Following the record-breaking success of our recent Geneva sale, which achieved the highest total ever for a watch auction in history, we are delighted to begin the new decade in Asia with our highest-ever watch auction total in the region,” said Thomas Perazzi, Phillips head of watches in Asia. “Notably, we have set a new record for the most valuable timepiece ever sold in Asia, as well as the highest number of timepieces exceeding US $1 million sold in the region this season. With this outstanding result, we are proud to announce that, to date, five wristwatches have sold for over US$10 million at non-charitable auction—all of them sold by Phillips across our global salerooms in Geneva, New York, and Hong Kong.”