"Very important" gold watch sells for £1.6m at auction
Tuesday, 17th November 2009 (4891 views)
A rare Patek Philippe gold watch has been sold at auction for 2.78 million Swiss francs (£1.6 million).
The 18-c gold perpetual calendar wristwatch, which dates back to the 1940s, was one of the star lots of the Geneva-based Important Watches sale held by Christie's yesterday (November 16th).
Originally estimated to sell for up to 1.5 million Swiss francs, the watch features moon phases and indirect sweep centre seconds and is embellished with a number of jewels.
It also makes use of gold wheels and applied gold dot and Arabic numerals.
"This watch is a sensational 'one-off' and milestone in the development of perpetual calendar wristwatches," Christie's said.
Other gold watches sold at the auction include those by Rolex, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Breguet and Tiffany & Co.
More than 19 million Swiss francs worth of watches were sold in total, beating the estimate of ten million Swiss francs made by Christie's before the sale started.
