PARIS.- As part of the development of its Watch Department, Artcurial announced the arrival of expert, Geoffroy Ader, who will work with the department Director, Marie Sanna-Legrand. The recruitment confirms the strategic importance of this speciality for Artcurial.

“The arrival of Geoffroy Ader, one of the best international experts, will enable us to expand our collector watches activity, an area where we are already the leading auction house in France and Monaco. His 20 years experience working with prestigious international auction houses and his sound knowledge of the watch market are qualities which will now benefit solely Artcurial”, explains Marie Sanna-Legrand, Director of Artcurial’s Collector Watches Department.

Geoffroy Ader, Artcurial’s new exclusive expert says, “Joining Artcurial is a fascinating challenge. With my 20 years experience in Paris and Geneva I will bring a complete vision of the world of international collectors and the Swiss watch industry. Our first event will be the summer auctions in Monaco held next July. Over the past two years, the Watch Department has proved to be successful. I look forward to contributing to future accomplishments.

Geoffroy Ader succeeds Romain Réa who launched this department within Artcurial 13 years ago. He now has decided to dedicate himself to editorial projects and expert consulting for watch manufacturers and also the expansion of his retail stores.

Marie Sanna-Legrand took over as head of the Watch Department two years ago. In 2014, the department totalled 4 million Euros of sales, an increase of 48% compared to 2013, mainly thanks to the success of the monographic sale, Panerai Only. This same year the auction house set a world record for a Rolex watch sold at auction at 336 600 € / 453 333 $. In 2015, Artcurial decided to concentrate its watch auctions in Monaco and organise two events in the Principality each year in January and July.

From a French family of auctioneers, Geoffroy Ader began his career as a watch specialist in 1995 working at Drouot. From 2000, he worked for the Geneva based auction house, Antiquorum and in 2005 he joined Tajan as department Director in charge of the organisation of the Paris and Monaco auctions.

In 2008, Geoffroy Ader was named European Director of the luxury Watch department at Sotheby’s based in Geneva. He was behind the first evening auction of this speciality held in May 2008. Throughout his career he has sought out and sold several exceptional pieces, the Patek Philippe ‘Trossi Leggenda’ which belonged to Comte Trossi famous for being the first manager of the Scuderia Ferrari and the personal Rolex of German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer. At the head of the Sotheby’s department for 7 years in Geneva, the auction house reached a watch world record at the end of 2014, with the sale of a Patek Philippe Graves Supercomplication.

On a quest for new challenges, Geoffroy Ader returned to work for Antiquorum in 2015 as a digital expert. He is behind their ecommerce platform, Antiquorum Watch Boutique, which he developed to reach out to a new generation of collectors buying online.

His international and entrepreneurial profile attracted Artcurial who has recently invited him to become the new collector’s watch expert and share his 20 years of expertise in this field.