Antiquorum Summer Sale Nets Over $5 Million, With Rare Timepieces From Patek Philippe, Rolex, F.P. Journe And Cartier

Antiquorum's Summer sale, " Important Collectors' Wristwatches, Pocket Watches & Clocks", took place in New York on June 18th, realizing an auction total of nearly $5.5 million.  401 lots were represented, which covered a wide gamut of extremely collectible timepieces.  Among the brands represented were Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, F.P. Journe, and Rolex.

In addition to a number of bidders present in the room, there was a great deal of bidding activity from the telephone, and particularly the Internet, which logged a record 484 bids, accounting for 118.7% sold by value, and 86.28% sold by lot.  The body of participants represented a diverse group of nations, including Germany, Hong Kong, and Italy.

Patek Philippe was the overall top performer at the Antiquorum Summer sale, its references claiming the highest sale price, and many runner-ups.  Star of the show was Lot 401, a Patek Philippe Ref. 5013; this pink gold minute repeating perpetual calendar with a black dial achieved a sale price of $640,800.  A fine example of Patek Philippe's distinctive Ref. 5020--a TV-screen shaped perpetual calendar with chronograph--realized an impressive $190,400, while a Ref. 3970P with a diamond dial auctioned for $166,800.  Also notable was a white gold example of the Tiffany-retailed T150 Annual calendar watch (Lot 116), which sold for $72,000--a result twice that of its pre-sale estimate. 

An open-worked perpetual calendar by Vacheron Constantin (Lot 391) sold for $66,000 and a "Black Label" F.P. Journe Tourbillon Remontoir watch with dead-beat seconds found a buyer at $101,900.  Riding the crest of enthusiasm from Antiquorum's thematic April sale, Rolex watches performed extremely well; highlights included a COMEX Submariner Date (Lot 356) which sold for $79,200 and a yellow gold Cosmograph Daytona chronograph that attained $54,000.  A Cartier "Pendule de Bureau" table clock was a pleasant surprise for fans of that brand, reaching a sale price of $46,800--a figure nearly ten times that of its pre-sale estimate.  

"We're still seeing strong prices realized for fine timepieces in the US market", commented Julian Schaerer, the auctioneer and Watch Director of Antiquorum USA.  "As such, we are eagerly anticipating our upcoming October auction for which we have several extraordinary timepieces already consigned."

Additional details are listed on the Antiquorum Press Release.