Phillips reports successful inaugural watch auction

Auction house Phillips has reported a successful inaugural watch auction as it broke numerous records and achieved 29.6 million Swiss Francs (£20.5m). 

The auction, which was held in Geneva on Saturday May 9 and Sunday May 10, sold four watches for over $1m (£640,000) and established multiple records including the price for any stainless steel watch, for any Rolex sold at auction and for any Rolex Day-Date.

The first sale on Saturday focused on Rolex Day-Date models, with every lot selling for a combined price of 6.18 million Swiss Francs (£4.26m). The highest price was paid for the ‘Big Kahuna’ (£325,000) – which smashed the record price for any Rolex Day-Date sold at auction.

Meanwhile the second sale on Sunday included various brands of watches and achieved a combined total of 23.47 million Swiss francs (£16.16m), with 96% of all the watches being sold.

The top lot was a rare Patek Philippe single button doctor’s chronograph in stainless steel with an aged off-white silvered dial, which sold for 4.6 million swiss francs (£320,000) – a new record price for any stainless steel wristwatch sold at auction.

Edward Dolman, CEO and chairman of Phillips: “We are proud with the results for our inaugural auctions which already position Phillips as the house of choice for the very best collectors’ watches.”