Christie's Draws $1.8 Million for Watch With Leap-Year Calendar

13 may 2009 - source Bloomberg

May 11 (Bloomberg) -- Christie’s International Plc sold a Patek Philippe timepiece with a calendar that automatically adjusts to leap years for 1.94 million Swiss francs ($1.8 million), the day after a Sotheby’s auction of watches that missed the low end of its estimated range.

The watch was estimated to be worth 1 million francs to 1.5 million francs, according to the London-based auction house. Christie’s also sold a Breguet carriage clock made for the Queen of Naples for 723,000 francs, exceeding its high estimate. It will be displayed in the Breguet museum, according to Aurel Bacs, co-head of Christie’s global watch unit, based in Geneva.

Yesterday, Sotheby’s auction in the same Swiss city raised 3.75 million francs, missing the low end of the sale’s estimated range by about 50,000 francs. Sotheby’s sold a Patek Philippe watch with one of the thinnest “split-seconds” chronographs for $297,000.

The market is “very selective,” said Alexander Barter, deputy head of Sotheby’s global watch unit, in a statement sent by e-mail today. “Rare pieces in excellent condition are still much in demand.”

The split-seconds chronograph is considered one of the three most difficult mechanisms in watchmaking, according to Sotheby’s. Such a chronograph can measure the results of different rivals in a race. The chronograph in the platinum Patek Philippe measures 5 millimeters, and the watch’s sale price was in the middle of the estimated range of 300,000 francs to 400,000 francs.

Mad Ludwig’s Watch

Sotheby’s also sold a timepiece that was probably made for King Ludwig II of Bavaria for 242,500 francs, almost five times the high end of its 50,000 franc estimate. A Breguet white-gold wristwatch with an emerald- and diamond-set bezel and case, estimated at as much as 280,000 francs, failed to sell.

A Cartier Mystery Clock, named because of the way the hands appear to float in air while they turn around a transparent dial, sold for 314,500 francs at the Sotheby’s auction, more than the 220,000 franc to 250,000 franc estimate.

Estimates don’t include the buyer’s premium, which for Christie’s was 25 percent of the price for the first 60,000 francs, 20 percent from there to 1.2 million francs, and 12 percent of any amount in excess of that.

To contact the writer on the story: Thomas Mulier in Geneva at tmulier@bloomberg.net.