The market for collectible watches continues to test new highs. Over the weekend in Geneva, Phillips staged the highest-grossing single watch auction ever, with its latest watch sale realising CHF 74.8 million (US$96.3 million) from 225 lots, all but one of which found buyers.
Fourteen watches crossed the CHF 1 million mark, while 43 world records were set across brands and references. Patek Philippe led the sale with the Ref. 2523 “South America” world-time wristwatch, which realised more than CHF 7.96 million (US$10 million), setting a new record for the reference and becoming only the third vintage wristwatch to surpass US$10 million at auction.
Demand for F.P. Journe was also notably strong. Nine watches by the independent watchmaker accounted for six records, with several examples finishing comfortably above their estimates.
Lot 27 | Patek Philippe | Ref. 2523 | “South America” Two-Crown World Timer in 18k yellow gold (Auction record for the reference)
Manufactured in 1953
Estimate: CHF 5,000,000 – 10,000,000
Hammer Price: CHF 6,500,000
Sold: CHF 7,961,000 (US$10.2 million)
Emerging from the post-war golden age of wristwatches, Patek Philippe’s Ref. 2523 is regarded by collectors as one of the ultimate trophies.
Launched in the early 1950s, its two-crown world-time system, displaying some 40 cities around the globe, was a radically forward-looking complication, far ahead of mainstream demand. To appeal to connoisseurs, Patek Philippe paired the mechanism with lavish cloisonné enamel dials, yet production of the model remained vanishingly small.
Current scholarship suggests that only around 27 examples of reference 2523 were made in total, of which just 12 were fitted with polychrome cloisonné enamel map dials:
- North America: six known – three in yellow gold, two in pink gold, one in white gold
- South America: three known – two in yellow gold, one in pink gold
- Eurasia: three known – all in yellow gold
The present watch is the only South America 2523 ever to have surfaced at auction, having appeared once before in 1988 and now returning after almost four decades off the market. The previous record for the reference was set in 2021, when a Eurasia-dial example achieved more than CHF 7.04 million at Phillips Geneva.
Lot 6 | F.P. Journe | Chronomètre à Résonance “Souscription No. 18” in platinum and 18k pink gold (Auction record for the model)
Manufactured circa 2000
Estimate: CHF 450,000 – 900,000
Hammer Price: CHF 3,950,000
Sold: CHF 4,875,500 (US$6.3 million)
The Chronomètre à Résonance is built around a double-balance resonance calibre, in which two regulators are placed in close proximity and, through the phenomenon of resonance, gradually adjust to one another, stabilising their rhythm and improving precision.
To finance his first 20 Tourbillon Souverain watches, François‑Paul Journe adopted a prepaid subscription model, known as Souscription. He repeated this approach for the Chronomètre à Résonance, offering 20 Souscription pieces to early clients. In reality, however, Journe first produced two other series totalling around 50 Résonance watches before completing the 20 Souscription examples, making these “subscription” watches conceptually the first generation but the third to be manufactured.
Most early Résonance models were cased in platinum, and two‑tone executions like the present watch – combining platinum and pink gold – are notably rare. Numbered 18 of the original 20 Souscription pieces, it is one of only five Souscription Résonance known with this two‑tone case, and one of just three pairing it with a white gold dial, all in the coveted 38 mm case with a brass movement.
Lot 108 | Louis Richard | “Triple Detent Constant Force One Minute Tourbillon Chronometer” in 18k yellow gold (Auction record for any pocket chronometer)
Manufactured circa 1860
Estimate: CHF 100,000 – 200,000
Hammer Price: CHF 3,200,000
Sold: CHF 3,968,000 (US$5.1 million)
In the age of ocean exploration, accurate timekeeping was critical to determining longitude at sea. In the 18th century, Britain’s Longitude Act offered substantial rewards for a reliable method of calculating longitude, spurring the development of marine chronometers and highly specialised chronomètre pocket watches capable of maintaining precision under demanding conditions.
This unique observatory pocket watch was made by Louis JeanRichard, who was born into a watchmaking family in Le Locle and was obsessed with precision. He regulated his timepieces by observing the stars, equipping his workshop with astronomical instruments, as well as cold chambers and ovens to test performance under extreme temperatures.
Its “Triple Detent Constant Force One Minute Tourbillon” construction combines a three-detent constant-force escapement, designed to deliver a stable flow of energy over time, with a one-minute tourbillon to compensate for gravitational errors. It is believed to be the only known watch in horological history to combine JeanRichard’s constant-force escapement with a tourbillon regulator.
Lot 144 | Patek Philippe | Ref. 6002G-010 | Sky Moon Tourbillon
Manufactured in 2018
Estimate: CHF 350,000 – 700,000
Hammer Price: CHF 2,600,000
Sold: CHF 3,242,000 (US$4.2 million)
At its launch in 2013, Patek Philippe’s Sky Moon Tourbillon Ref. 6002 was the manufacture’s most complicated wristwatch, uniting 12 complications in a single movement, including a cathedral‑gong minute repeater, tourbillon, perpetual calendar with retrograde date, moon‑phases, leap‑year indication, sidereal time, and sky chart.
Housed in a 44 mm white-gold case, the 6002G is entirely hand-chased and engraved with scrolling foliate motifs, a process that takes more than 100 hours to complete.
The Ref. 6002 exists in three principal iterations: the first-generation 6002G-001 with blue enamel dial and white-gold case; the present black-enamel 6002G-010 in white gold; and the later 6002R-001 with brown enamel dial and rose-gold case.
In 2023, a blue‑dial 6002G‑001 achieved around HK$45 million (US$5.8 million) at Christie’s, setting a record for the most expensive timepiece ever sold in an online auction.
Lot 36 | Akrivia | AK-06 in stainless steel (Auction record for Akrivia/Rexhep Rexhepi)
Manufactured in 2018
Estimate: CHF 350,000 – 700,000
Hammer Price: CHF 2,400,000
Sold: CHF 3,000,000 (US$3.9 million)
Founded in Geneva in 2012 by Rexhep Rexhepi, Akrivia is a young independent manufacture that has quickly become one of the most sought-after names in contemporary watchmaking.
Born in Kosovo in 1987, Rexhepi moved to Switzerland as a child and entered the trade early. After apprenticing and working as a watchmaker at Patek Philippe, he went on to high-end movement specialist BNB Concept and later worked alongside François-Paul Journe, before founding Akrivia at just 25.
Unveiled in 2017, the AK-06 brought Akrivia to wider attention. Designed to showcase a newly developed in-house calibre, its dial is almost entirely open, revealing a perfectly symmetrical hand-wound movement architecture inspired in part by Breguet. The calibre features a power-reserve display and a zero-reset seconds mechanism.
Other lots that sold above CHF 1 million:
Lot 137 | Louis Audemars & Co | No. 12112 La Royale “Super Complication”
Manufactured in 1878
Estimate: CHF 400,000 – 800,000
Hammer Price: CHF 2,000,000
Sold: CHF 2,516,000
Lot 149 | F.P. Journe | Chronometre a Resonance “Pisa”
Manufactured circa 2009
Estimate: CHF 400,000 – 900,000
Hammer Price: CHF 1,850,000
Sold: CHF 2,334,500
Lot 128 | F.P. Journe | Octa Chronographe “Straight Côtes de Genève”
Manufactured in 2001
Estimate: CHF 150,000 – 300,000
Hammer Price: CHF 1,350,000
Sold: CHF 1,714,500
Lot 65 | Greubel Forsey x Philippe Dufour x Michel Boulanger | Naissance d’Une Montre 1 N°1/11 in 18k white gold (Auction record for Naissance d’Une Montre)
Manufactured circa 2016
Estimate: CHF 400,000 – 800,000
Hammer Price: CHF 1,300,000
Sold: CHF 1,651,000
Lot 208 | F.P. Journe | Tourbillon Souverain à Remontoir d’Egalité
Manufactured in 2003
Estimate: CHF 350,000 – 700,000
Hammer Price: CHF 1,200,000
Sold: CHF 1,524,000
Lot 24 | Agassiz Watch Co. “Victory Watch – Charles de Gaulle” Pocket Watch in 18k yellow gold
Manufactured in 1945
Estimate: CHF 300,000 – 600,000
Hammer Price: CHF 1,150,000
Sold: CHF 1,460,500
Lot 138 | Paul Ditisheim | “Minute Detent Escapement Tourbillon” (Auction record for the brand)
Manufactured in 1903
Estimate: CHF 60,000 – 120,000
Hammer Price: CHF 1,000,000
Sold: CHF 1,270,000
Lot 229 | Cartier | Mystery clock, rock crystal, agate, rose quartz, nephrite, diamond, onyx, turquoise, mother-of-pearl, yellow gold, and enamel mystery clock
Manufactured in 1924
Estimate: CHF 600,000 – 1,200,000
Hammer Price: CHF 960,000
Sold: CHF 1,219,200
Lot 26 | Audemars Piguet | Ref. 5503 | Triple calendar chronograph with moonphase display in stainless steel and 14k pink gold (Auction record for a vintage Audemars Piguet wristwatch)
Manufactured in 1942
Estimate: CHF 400,000 – 800,000
Hammer Price: CHF 860,000
Sold: CHF 1,092,200
Auction Details:
Auction House: Phillips Geneva
Sale: The Geneva Watch Auction: XXIII
Date: 10 May 2026
Number of Lots: 225
Sold: 224
Unsold: 1
Sale Rate: 99.5%
Sale Total: CHF 74,846,995