Sotheby's New York Achieves a Personal Best With Sale of $9.6m USD Patek Philippe

While all eyes were on the Tiffany Blue Patek Philippe 5711 selling at Phillips this weekend in New York, a rare vintage Patek achieved nearly $10m USD at Sotheby’s.

Some 19 bidders battled it out in Sotheby’s New York salesroom for the new-to-market “Pink-on-Pink” Patek Philippe Ref 1518, which eventually hammered for $9.6m USD, more than four times the presale estimate of $2.2m USD.

The watch came from the estate of Prince Tewfik Tousson of Egypt and was one of just 14 examples known to exist. The sale was a record for Sotheby’s, representing the highest price ever achieved by the auction house for a wristwatch.

Sotheby’s also achieved $2.2m USD for a modern Patek Philippe Ref 5531R-010 World Time Minute Repeater. The watch was one of five made featuring a cloisonné enamel dial featuring the New York skyline.

The sale achieved a total of $24.4m USD and an annual total of $142m USD with two more sales before the end of their auction year.

“Today’s exceptional result cemented with style the biggest year to date for Sotheby’s global Watches team, and marked the most valuable Important Watches auction ever held at Sotheby’s New York,” said Sam Hines, worldwide head of Sotheby’s Watches. “Throughout the year, we’ve seen unabated appetite from collectors around the world, driving new benchmarks and records along the way. We look forward to the conclusion of our part two online sale in New York, and our final online sale in Geneva opening next week, to cap off what is already a banner year for Sotheby’s Watches.”

Elsewhere in watches, Snoopy takes over Franck Muller courtesy of Bamford Watch Department.