5 Top Lots From The $23 Million Phillips New York Watch Auction: X

Phillips New York Watch Auction: X concluded last week with all 149 lots being sold, a white glove sale. Among the lots were a variety of excellent watches, some that fetched very tempting and reasonable prices, and others that tested the pockets of some of the top collectors. Looking at the latter, here are the five wristwatches that fetched the highest prices at the auction, in order.

$2.06 Million For A Philippe Dufour Duality

Philippe Dufour has long been known an excellent watchmaker, particularly so in the finishing department. Recently, he has gained even more recognition, with his pieces garnering a huge amount of attention and demand.

In 1996, after having only produced one wristwatch before, he created the Duality—One which quite like his first wristwatch, was a world’s first. The Duality incorporated a double escapement, with two independent balance wheels compensated by a central differential gear. This allowed any inaccuracy of one balance to be offset by the opposing inaccuracy of the other, creating overall increased accuracy, on average.

Despite planning to make 25 duality models, Dufour only made nine, making them all extremely rare and coveted pieces. The present example from 1999 was fresh to market and cased in white gold at 34mm in diameter, individually numbered 03.

$953,000 For A Rolex Daytona Paul Newman, Ref. 6239

Out of all the vintage Rolex Daytona models, ref. 6239 is undeniably the most special and important. It was released in 1963 as the first Rolex Daytona, although initially named the Le Mans. The 6239 features pump pushers and a matching metal bezel, in either gold or steel.

Out of the 14,000 ref. 6239 produced, only around 300 were cased in 18K yellow gold making them very rare in this day and age. Furthermore, the Paul Newman dials, originally known as Exotic dials, were produced approximately once for every 20 regular dials, meaning not much more than 15 are likely to have been produced out of the 300 gold examples of the 6239.

The present Daytona from 1970 is not only one of those, but a John Player Special (JPS) dial, in black with champagne subdials and black registers, an even rarer sight on the 6239. Furthermore, it remains in excellent condition over 50 years after it was produced, which is always the key when it comes to vintage wristwatches.

$940,000 For A Patek Philippe, Ref. 5208

Frequently seen on the wrist of the Patek Philippe President, Thierry Stern, ref. 5208P is one of the most complicated watches made by the brand. It features a minute repeater, instantaneous perpetual calendar and single button chronograph, all cased in platinum.

The calendar is displayed through three apertures at 10.30, 12.00 and 1.30. Its instantaneous nature means the calendar functions displayed in these apertures change instantly in synchronisation at midnight, which avoids any misreadings that may happen on non-instantaneous perpetual calendars. Furthermore, like all Patek repeaters, this example has passed through the hands of Mr Stern, who personally listens to and tests the quality of the repeater chimes from the striking hammers, visible through the sapphire case back.

Reference 5208P is highly rare and requires application for consideration from the Stern family, which must be granted before a client can purchase it.

$762,000 For A Vintage Patek Philippe, Ref. 1518

When it comes to vintage Patek, few references prevail above the 1518. Produced between 1941 and 1954, reference 1518 houses a perpetual calendar and a chronograph, and was the predecessor which inspired the iconic and perhaps more known 2499. None the less, the 1518 is not only rarer, but more important in the overall history of the Patek Philippe perpetual calendar chronograph line, as it was the first to be serially produced.

Only 281 examples were produced, with most of them cased in yellow gold. This particular one from 1945 cased by Vichet (Key nine) remains no different. In a well preserved state it features in enamel the long PATEK PHILIPPE & CO GENÈVE signature for models produced before 1948, as well as an extract from the archives which states that it sat around for two years before being sold in 1947.

$686,000 For A Final Edition Stainless Steel Patek Philippe, Ref. 5004

Going a step further from the regular perpetual calendar chronograph line, reference 5004 incorporates a perpetual calendar with a split seconds chronograph, presenting undeniably one of the most important Patek Philippe models to have graced the catalogue. Supposedly, an average 12 watches were produced a year between the reference’s introduction in 1996 and discontinuation in 2012. Collectors however, are well aware that there are many more units in circulation than the 200-250 that the annual production numbers suggest.

In 2012, to commemorate its discontinuation, Patek Philippe unveiled a final series going by ref. 5004A-001, produced in stainless steel and in a relatively small number of units — Similar to the number produced in white gold. Gone were the Arabic numerals which are so famously associated with the reference, and instead they were replaced with black baton hour makers.

The present example is part of that series and only the ninth to appear at auction, preserved excellently and complete with all its original accessories.