Geneva’s November watch auctions: a steel Patek and a Sultan’s Nautilus lead

Twice a year, the serious money in watch collecting lands in Geneva for one long weekend. The autumn round starts on Saturday.

Phillips, working with Bacs & Russo, runs The Geneva Watch Auction XXIV on Nov 7 and 8 at the Hotel President on Quai Wilson, with 221 lots split over two afternoon sessions. Christie’s follows on Monday, Nov 9, with its Rare Watches sale at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues across the river. Christie’s says it is offering 218 watches. Public viewings are open in both hotels this week.

Phillips: steel, and a lot of it

The top estimate in town belongs to lot 95 at Phillips, a 1945 Patek Philippe reference 1436 split-seconds chronograph in stainless steel. Phillips puts it at CHF 2 million to 4 million.

Steel is the whole story here. Patek made the 1436 from 1938 for about 33 years, roughly 140 pieces in total by Phillips’ count, and most were gold. Phillips says only two steel examples are known with their original case and dial. This one has a silvered dial, a tachymeter scale and no service marks inside the caseback, and a Patek archive extract dates its sale to 1949.

Other lots with big numbers: Cartier’s Portico Mystery Clock No. 4 from 1924, a clock rather than a watch, now estimated at CHF 1.8 million to 3.6 million, an F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance “Régence” in platinum estimated in excess of CHF 1 million, a gold Rolex Daytona “John Player Special” at CHF 800,000 to 1.6 million, and a Rolex 6062 “Stelline” newly found in Japan at CHF 600,000 to 1.2 million.

Christie’s: a watch with a story

Christie’s headline lot is a yellow gold Patek Philippe Nautilus 3700/1 made for Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman, with the Omani khanjar dagger emblem on the dial. Christie’s says only five yellow gold 3700s with that dial were publicly known before this one turned up. It comes straight from its first owner, a man who worked close to the Sultan, and is estimated at CHF 500,000 to 1 million.

The backstory is the reason people are talking about it. According to Christie’s, the Sultan once asked the young man for the time. He had no watch. The Sultan gave him one, and later this Nautilus.

Also in the sale is a 1990 Cartier Octagonal Allongée, which Christie’s says is the first of that series to come to auction, at CHF 400,000 to 600,000. Cartier is hot at Christie’s right now. In May, a 1990 London Crash sold there for more than $2 million, a record for any Cartier wristwatch.

Video: "Discover the watches coming to auction at Christie’s in Geneva this November | Christie's", Christie's on YouTube.

What to watch for

The spring set a high bar. Phillips says its spring sales in Geneva, Hong Kong and New York made more than $235 million, with three watches above $10 million each. Christie’s May Rare Watches sale in Geneva made CHF 33.1 million with 99% of lots sold.

Estimates do not include the buyer’s premium, so hammer prices that land mid-estimate will look higher once fees are added. Results usually post on the auction houses’ sites the same evening.

Editorial only, not financial advice.

Top photo: uggboy via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.