1. Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300A-010 ($31.19 million, 2019, Christie’s)
Patek Philippe unveiled the first Grandmaster Chime watch in 2014 as part of the many celebrations around the Genevan maison’s 175the anniversary. The reference that made history at the Only Watch auction in Geneva in 2019 was a unique piece, the only Grandmaster Chime ever crafted in stainless steel; the Grandmaster Chime models in Patek’s regular collection are all made in precious metals. The watch is the most complicated Patek Philippe wristwatch ever made (distinguishing it from the maker’s most complicated pocket watch, as detailed below), with 20 complications, displayed on two dials, one ebony black, the other salmon, for each side of the swiveling, reversible case with its elaborate hobnail guilloché-patterned sides. Among the cornucopia of complications are two patented world-premieres — an acoustic alarm that chimes at a pre-programmed time and a date repeater that can strike the date on demand — along with a Grande and Petite Sonnerie, moon-phases, and a perpetual calendar. In the tradition of the biennial Only Watch auction, proceeds from the staggering, record-breaking hammer price of $31 million went toward research into a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
2. Patek Philippe Henry Graves Supercomplication Ref. 198.385 ($24 million, 2014, Sotheby’s)
Henry Graves, Jr., was a New York banker and avid watch collector who, legend has it, was engaged in a competition with fellow tycoon James Ward Packard (of Packard Motors) to become the owner of the world’s most complicated watch. In 1933, the timepiece that Graves commissioned from Patek Philippe, aptly named the Henry Graves Supercomplication, earned that distinction with its 24 complications, blowing away the 10 complications of the watch Patek had made for Packard in 1927. The array of horological functions built into the unique, gold pocket watch include Westminster chimes, perpetual calendar, sunrise and sunset times, and a celestial map of New York as seen from Graves’s Fifth Avenue apartment. After Graves died in 1953, the watch changed hands several times throughout the years, and was auctioned for the first time by Sotheby’s in 1999, bought for a then-record price of $11,002,500 by Sheikh Saud bin Mohammed Al Thani of the Qatar Royal Family. After his death, the watch was auctioned again by Sotheby’s in 2014, sold to an anonymous buyer and breaking another record.
3. Rolex “Paul Newman” Daytona Ref. 6239 ($17.75 million, 2017, Phillips)
Legendary actor and motorsports enthusiast Paul Newman famously wore a very particular and rare Rolex Daytona wristwatch (Ref. 6239), during his successful racing career, and examples of that watch, which has been nicknamed the ‘Paul Newman Daytona,” have been among the most valuable timepieces on the secondary market. Thus it was little surprise that the “Paul Newman” actually owned by Paul Newman made such an earth-shaking impact when it went on the block in New York on October 26, 2017. The 37mm-diameter stainless steel chronograph, with its telltale off-white dial, contrasting black subdials and minute track, and engraved tachymeter-scale bezel, was a gift to Newman from his wife, actress Joanne Woodward, its caseback engraved with the affectionate note of caution, “Drive Carefully – Me,” a reference to the beginning of Newman’s racing career around that time. Acquired in 1968, the watch had been kept within the Newman family for nearly 50 years before consigned for auction. At $17.75 million, the model remains the most expensive Rolex watch ever sold.
4. Patek Philippe Stainless Steel Ref. 1518 ($11.137 million, 2016, Phillips)
This perpetual calendar chronograph from Patek Philippe briefly held the title for most expensive watch sold at auction when it went for 9.6 million Swiss francs at a Phillips Auction in Geneva in 2016. Dating to 1941, it is significant in several respects: the reference is the first wristwatch with both a perpetual calendar and chronograph, and it is one of only four total models made in steel — a complicated watch of any kind being an extreme rarity during the World War II years, when most steel was earmarked for the war effort. The 35mm case houses an extensively modified Valjoux caliber with exquisite Patek finishing.
5. Patek Philippe “Prince Mohammed Tewlik A. Toussou” Ref. 1518 ($9,570 million, 2021, Sotheby’s)
Another Patek Philippe reference with perpetual calendar and chronograph functions and a noteworthy provenance, this timepiece with a 35mm rose-gold case belonged to Prince Mohammed Tewfik A. Toussou of Egypt. The Prince, who acquired the watch in 1951, was a direct descendant of Muhammad Ali, the founder of modern Egypt. The watch was believed to be one of only about 340 pieces that Patek made, and released in 1941. This version, with its copper-pink dial, is even rarer, with only 14 known to exist. The Prince’s heirs consigned it to Sotheby’s in 2021 after his death in April of that year, and it sold for more than $9.5 million at a December 2021 auction in New York.
English