Only Watch 2019 / Geneva Auction results
The 8th Only Watch auction took place in Geneva on Saturday, November 9, 2019.
The Patek Philippe first and only Grandmaster Chime in steel was sold for CHF 31 million, fetching the highest price in this 2019 auction and becoming The Most Expensive Watch In The World.
The first and only Grandmaster Chime in steel – a very rare metal in the Genevan manufacture’s collection and particularly uncommon for a grand complication.
Launched in 2014 on the occasion of the company’s 175th anniversary, the Grandmaster Chime became part of the manufacture’s regular collection in a white-gold version in 2016. The most complex Patek Philippe wristwatch features 20 complications, including five acoustic functions, two of which are patented global premières: an alarm that strikes the preprogrammed alarm time and a date repeater that sounds the date on demand. The double-face case with the guilloched hobnail pattern is endowed with a patented reversing mechanism.
Apart from its steel case, the Ref. 6300A-010 Grandmaster Chime, created explicitly for Only Watch 2019, stands out with its golden opaline and ebony-black dials as well as the inscription “The Only One” on the subsidiary alarm time dial at 12 o'clock, a further hallmark of its exclusivity.
In 2017, at the 7th Only Watch auction, the Patek Philippe first and only titanium version of the Ref. 5208, was sold for CHF 6.2 million, fetching the highest price of the 2017 auction and becoming the second-highest successful bid since the Only Watch auction series was launched. The previous top bid record was also held by a Patek Philippe timepiece – the Ref. 5016 in stainless steel that was sold for CHF 7.3 million in 2015.
Only Watch is a charity auction that has been taking place every two years since 2005. The proceeds benefit the Monaco Association against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (Association Monégasque contre les Myopathies AMM). They help fund research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a degenerative neuromuscular disorder that befalls one out of every 3500 children, adolescents, or young adults around the world.
Ref. 6300A-010
Caliber 300 GS AL 36-750 QIS FUS IRM. Manually wound mechanical movement. Strikework isolator indicator. Second time zone with day/night indicator. Day, date (on both dials), month, leap-year cycle by hands. Four-digit year display in an aperture. 24-hour and minute subdial. Crown position indication (R,A,H).
Stainless steel reversible case with guilloched hobnail pattern, protected against humidity and dust (not water resistant). Time side dial in rose gold, with gold applied Breguet numerals. Calendar side in black ebony. 18K solid gold dial plates. Shiny black alligator leather strap with square scales, hand-stitched. Fold-over clasp. Case diameter: 47.7 mm. Thickness : 16.07 mm.
