GENEVA — A packed auction room at the Hotel President pushed a one-of-a-kind F.P. Journe wristwatch past the eight-figure mark, anchoring a CHF 92 million ($100 million) two-day sale that cleared every single lot on the roster.
The hammer fell at CHF 8,680,500 ($10.59 million) for the F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance ‘Régence’—the only known example fitted with a hand-engraved pink-gold dial. Bidders on the floor, on phone banks, and online chased the piece through dozens of aggressive increments. The final price marks the fifth consecutive live Phillips auction featuring a watch sale above $10 million.
Bidder interest was relentless. Across two sessions on November 7 and 8, The Geneva Watch Auction: XXIV registered 2,121 collectors from 69 countries competing for 217 lots. Not a single watch went unsold. The auction house confirmed the CHF 92 million gross total makes this the first live watch auction in history to breach $100 million, printing 24 world records and minting 17 seven-figure results along the way.
F.P. Journe dominated proceedings. Thirteen timepieces from the independent manufacture generated CHF 31.8 million alone, accounting for more than a third of the entire weekend handle. Early production serials and artisanal dials commanded fierce premiums over baseline catalog estimates.
The appetite for rare independent watchmaking caught even seasoned market specialists by surprise. Alexandre Ghotbi, Deputy Chairman and Head of Watches for Europe and the Middle East, alongside Head of Sale Tiffany To, characterised the $100 million milestone as an extraordinary benchmark built on rare cataloguing depth and consignor trust.
As a twelve-year-old boy discovering vintage watches, I never imagined we would go from a few francs to hundreds, to thousands, to hundreds of thousands, and to millions. But the love and passion, and the respect for the watchmakers and collectors, were always there. I always believed that watches deserved a place on Mount Olympus of collecting.
Aurel Bacs, Senior Consultant, Phillips
The sale delivered historic valuations well beyond the Journe catalogue. A stainless-steel Patek Philippe Ref. 1436 split-seconds chronograph—one of merely two examples preserved with its original steel case and factory dial—commanded CHF 6,267,000 after an extended volley.
Historic decorative horology also set all-time marks. Cartier’s Portico Mystery Clock No. 4 sold for CHF 4,815,000, setting a worldwide auction record for any Cartier timepiece. The clock had remained hidden from the secondary market since its last public appearance in 1996.
| Timepiece & Reference | Lot Details | Realised Price (CHF) |
|---|---|---|
| F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance ‘Régence’ | Hand-engraved pink-gold dial, unique piece | CHF 8,680,500 |
| Patek Philippe Ref. 1436 | Stainless-steel split-seconds chronograph | CHF 6,267,000 |
| Cartier Portico Mystery Clock No. 4 | Art Deco mystery clock (unseen since 1996) | CHF 4,815,000 |
| Rolex Ref. 6062 ‘Stelline’ | 18-carat yellow gold, original Japanese owner | CHF 2,334,500 |
Vintage Rolex models showed sustained demand across single-owner consignments. A newly surfaced Rolex Ref. 6062 ‘Stelline’ triple calendar in 18-carat yellow gold, secured straight from its original custodian in Japan, hammered down at CHF 2,334,500. Meanwhile, Part I of the Pucci Papaleo Collection—a 15-watch archive of rare Rolex chronographs assembled over three decades—yielded CHF 3,784,600, propelled by pristine dial preservation and documented provenance.
Market Context: The 100% sell-through rate across 217 lots signals institutional-grade resilience at the ultra-top of the luxury hard-asset market. While secondary volume for mass-production luxury timepieces has cooled globally over the past 18 months, museum-tier rarities, fresh-to-market vintage references, and boutique independent fabricators continue to command aggressive liquidity.
With all 217 lots closed in Geneva, Phillips and its joint venture Bacs & Russo will transition attention to the upcoming international winter auction cycle, where additional consignments from private European collections are scheduled to test collector depth in early 2025.
| Pucci Papaleo Collection (Part I) |
| 15 curated vintage Rolex chronographs |
| CHF 3,784,600 |