The wristwatch, made in 2010, is one of only five Cartier Cheich watches that exist and is the only one made in white gold.
Following a bidding battle among collectors online, on the phone, and in the room, it sold for HK$26.5 million ($3.4 million), more than double its pre-sale estimate.
The result set a new world record for the most valuable Cartier wristwatch ever sold at auction, topping the record set earlier this year by the sale of a London Crash watch from 1987.
Cartier conceived the Cheich as the Cartier Challenge Trophy for the Paris–Dakar Rally, an off-road motor endurance race that began in 1978.
The route of the race (now known as just the Dakar Rally) has changed over the years, but originally, riders began in France and ended in Senegal, a 6,200-mile route than involved traversing mountain terrain and long stretches of desert.
The design of the Cartier Cheich is inspired by the blue headscarves, known in French as “cheich,” worn by the Tuareg people, an indigenous nomadic group that lives across the Sahara Desert. They are known as the “blue men of the desert.”
The watch was the prize for any rider who won the race back-to-back, according to a video Sotheby’s posted to Instagram.
Four examples were produced between 1983 and 1985, but Gaston Rahier, who won the race in 1984 and 1985, was the only racer to ever receive a Cartier Cheich, as the challenge ended in 1986.
Rahier’s Cartier Cheich watch remains in private hands, while two are in Cartier’s archives and one is missing, according to the video.
The fifth example, the watch Sotheby’s put up for auction last week, was created in 2010, when Cartier revisited the design for Giorgio Seragnoli, co-author of “Cartier Bianco” and owner one of the world’s most significant collections of white-metal Cartier watches.
This is the only white gold version of the model that exists.
Another Cartier watch also performed well at the sale.
A London Midi Pebble circa 1973-1974 sold for more than 2.5 times its high estimate, achieving HK$3.8 million ($494,000), setting a record for the model.
This Cartier London Midi Pebble, a rare mid-sized yellow gold wristwatch with a geometric off-set dial and original gold deployant buckle, was made in the 1970s. It sold for nearly $500,000 at Sotheby’s Important Watches sale in Hong Kong.
All told, Sotheby’s Important Watches auction totaled HK$426 million ($55 million), marking the highest-total watch sale in Sotheby’s history and the most valuable watch auction ever held in Asia.
Fine Watches will continue online through Sept. 22.
“The results achieved today demonstrate the continued strength and sophistication of the global collectors’ market for truly exceptional watches,” said Sam Hines, Sotheby’s global chairman, watches.
“The bidding battle for the unique white gold Cartier Cheich drew participation from collectors across regions and channels, underscoring the international appeal of rare, museum-quality timepieces with outstanding provenance and historical importance.”
Hines continued, “Setting a new world auction record for a Cartier wristwatch, this result further reinforces the enduring demand for the rarest examples that combine rarity, innovation, and collecting significance.”