GENEVA.- Sotheby’s Geneva closed its day of live watch sales on a high yesterday, having sold $27 million worth of watches across two sessions and just under 150 tightly curated lots – making it its highest value sale day in Geneva in over 10 years.

The Important Watches Sale which started at 11am and grossed $11,894,578 / 9,576,955 CHF was very buoyant, with bids bouncing dynamically from a packed auction room to online and phone bidders, eventually achieving the highest value per lot sold since 2021, when the watch market was at its historic peak and an extremely strong sell-through at over 96%.

The special evening sale, titled A Celebration of Breguet’s 250th Anniversary, which paid tribute to the phenomenal legacy of Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747 – 1823), the most important and influential watchmaker in the history of horology, and was the largest auction of Breguet timepieces in more than thirty years, exceeded all expectations to generate $15,156,076 / 12,202,960 CHF, breaking several world records in the process. Curated in collaboration with Montres Breguet SA and Mr. Emmanuel Breguet, Vice President, Head of Patrimony and descendant of founder Abraham-Louis Breguet, the auction brought to the fore some of the best and rarest examples of the timepieces that have charted the brand’s long and illustrious history, offering a mix of pocket watches, wristwatches and clocks. All records and highlights from the sale are listed below.

The much anticipated ‘Companion Oyster' Mercedes Gleitze Rolex Oyster, an extremely early prototype of the world’s first practical waterproof wristwatch, sold to a determined Asian bidder in the auction room. The private collector, battling against an absentee bidder and two bidders on the phone, quickly took the bidding over 1 million CHF to clinch the sale at 1,392,000 CHF / $1.73 million. The successful sale of the Gleitze Rolex Oyster was followed by other strong sales including a world record broken for any regular size Cartier Baignoire, making more than four times its high estimate to reach 228,600 CHF / $283,921; and an exceptional 1944 Patek Philippe Calatrava which stunned all witnessing the sale by making more than ten times its low estimate to eventually close at 165,100 CHF / $205,000 one of the strongest values achieved for the reference.

Cartier, Rolex and Patek Philippe were the star watchmakers of an Important Watches Sale that featured a similar number of vintage and modern watches with some contemporary references to round off a very diverse selection. Among the most remarkable sales are:

Rolex Highlights

130 – Rolex GMT-Master 'Pegasus Overland Expedition', Reference 6542, a stainless steel dual time zone wristwatch with date, bakelite bezel and bracelet, circa 1959 – estimate 24,000 - 45,000 CHF, sold for 82,550 CHF / $102,498.

134 – The 'Mercedes Gleitze Rolex Oyster, the world’s first practical waterproof wristwatch, Oyster reference 34075, with Glasgow import hallmarks for 1926/1927 – estimate in excess of 1 million CHF, sold for 1,392,000 CHF / $1,728,864.

Patek Philippe Highlights

156 – Patek Philippe Calatrava, Reference 96, a stainless-steel wristwatch with black dial, made in 1944, estimate 15,000 - 30,000 CHF sold for 165,100 CHF / $204,996.

160 – Patek Philippe 'First Series', Reference 2499, a yellow gold perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch with moon phases and case by Wenger, circa 1952 – estimate 1,000,000 - 2,000,000 CHF sold for 1,941,000 CHF / $2,410,722.

168 – Patek Philippe Reference 2012, a unique yellow gold, silver, lapis lazuli and diamond-set table clock, circa 1980 – estimate 15,000 - 30,000 CHF sold for 71,120 CHF / $88,306.

Cartier Highlights

133 - World Record for a regular size Cartier Baignoire – Black Baignoire, a very rare white gold wristwatch with black dial, hallmarked for London, 1967– estimate 30,000 - 50,000 CHF, sold for 228,600 CHF / $283,921.

165 – Cartier Crash, a limited-edition pink gold wristwatch made for the Hong Kong market, circa 1994, estimate 100,000 - 200,000 CHF sold for 285,750 CHF / $354,902.

173 – Cartier Rivière Panthère des Sables, Reference HPI00922, a unique white gold, diamond, onyx and emerald-set concealed bracelet watch with fossilized coral dial, circa 2015 – estimate 19,000 - 38,000 CHF, sold for 139,700 CHF / $172,216. Vacheron Constantin Highlights

153 – World Record for the reference – Vacheron Constantin Jump Hour, Reference 43040/000J-8011, a yellow gold jumping hour wristwatch, made in 1995 – estimate 11,000 - 22,000 CHF sold for 44,450 CHF / $55,191.

154 – Vacheron Constantin, Reference 4072, a stainless-steel chronograph wristwatch, made in 1943 – estimate 20,000 - 40,000 CHF sold for 139,700 CHF / $173,458 (one of the highest values ever achieved for that reference).

Highlights from the A Celebration of Breguet’s 250th Anniversary Sale

Lot 5 – World Record for a 20th Century Tourbillon – A very fine two-colour 18ct yellow and white gold open-faced keyless lever one-minute tourbillon watch with state-of-wind indication and presentation box Breguet No. 3102, made between 1934 and 1947 and sold to Monsieur Ducos in 1947 – estimate 30,000 - 60,000 CHF, sold for 190,500 CHF / $236,534.

Lot 10 – World Record for a Gem-set Breguet wristwatch and World Record for a Breguet Minute Repeater wristwatch – A magnificent, large and heavy special order 18ct yellow gold, ruby- and diamond-set minute repeating bracelet watch Breguet No. 3132 / 2861 Ref. 3631, circa 1999 – estimate 170,000 - 300,000 CHF sold for 508,000 CHF / $630,757.

Lot 16 – World Record for a Type XX Breguet – An extremely rare Type XX flyback chronograph wristwatch, One of only Two stainless steel examples known to exist with a yellow gold bezel Breguet No. 499, sold in 1954 to Société d'Aviation Louis Breguet – estimate 40,000 - 80,000 CHF, sold for 177,800 CHF / $220,765.

Lot 59 - A weight-driven pendule à trois roues skeleton timepiece with equation, Gregorian & French Revolutionary annual calendar and days of the week by made by George Daniels (and kept for his personal use) and certified by Breguet et Fils No. 3225, made in 1968 – estimate 200,000 - 400,000 CHF, sold for 1,880,000 CHF / $2,334,960.

Lot 9 – An important 18ct gold four-minute tourbillon watch with échappement naturel, stateof- wind indication, subsidiary seconds and piston activated observation seconds, Breguet No. 1890, sold to Comte Alexis Razoumoffsky for Fr 3,240 in 1809 – estimate 350,000 - 700,000 CHF, sold for 1,880,000 CHF / $2,334,960.

Lot 66 – A highly important and almost certainly unique slim 20ct gold, enamel and pearl-set montre à tact with previously unknown Breguet escapement with coaxially mounted escape wheels, documented in the Archives as échappement libre à double roue Breguet No. 1052, sold to the Duc de Praslin in 1802 for 1,800 Francs – estimate 26,000 - 50,000 CHF, sold for 838,200 CHF / $1,041,044.