LONDON.- The December Fine Watch sale at Bonhams flagship Bond Street saleroom proved a great success, with fantastic prices achieved for pieces such as the rare Reference 3974 Patek Philippe (£218,500), and £1.5 million worth of bidding.

Paul Maudsley, Director of the Bonhams Watch Department, said: “We're observing the demand for complicated Patek Philippe watches such as chronographs and minute repeaters growing ever stronger, whilst remaining buoyant is the trend for Sports Rolex models and the much loved Rolex Day-Date - something we expect to remain strong well into the auctions in 2105.

"At our final Fine Watch sale, Reference 3974, the much coveted Patek Philippe 18ct gold automatic perpetual calendar minute repeating wristwatch circa 1989, became one of the most valuable pieces we've sold this year. After some spirited bidding moving far above estimate, a telephone bidder succeeded in taking the piece home to London - just in time for Christmas."

Further sale highlights include the unusual Ulysse Nardin ‘Trilogy of Time’, sold to a Hong Kong bidder for £72,100. The series comprises the Astrolabium Galileo Galilei (at the time this was reported in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most complex watch ever made), the Planetarium Copernicus, and the Tellurium.

Bringing a royal flair to the sale, a Rolex made for the Sultanate of Oman, bearing the traditional Khanjar (dagger) emblem. The 18ct white gold automatic calendar wristwatch sold for almost double its original estimate, selling at £32,500.

Further sale highlights include a 19th Century Patek Philippe perpetual calendar minute repeating full hunter pocket watch (£42,500), from Girard Perregaux a rare 18ct rose gold automatic tourbillon wristwatch (£26,250), and a single-owner collection of 18 Rolex bracelet watches sold well, with top lot of the selection, lot 148, a ‘Red Submariner’, selling at £9,000.

Bonhams Fine Watch auction took place December 10th at 101 New Bond Street.