5 More Timepieces to Follow at Phillips’ Geneva Watch Auction: XXIII
Beyond the headline Patek Philippe Ref. 2523, the sale will feature major lots from F.P. Journe, Rolex, Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe, with several estimates in the seven figures.
Read More
Phillips' Geneva Watch Auction: XXIII has the sort of headliner that can define an auction season: a yellow gold Patek Philippe Ref. 2523 Heures Universelles, complete with a polychrome cloisonné enamel dial depicting South America. One of only two known examples in yellow gold, it carries an estimate in excess of CHF 5 million. Observer covered that timepiece earlier this month, and for good reason: it's the clear leader of the sale.
But the Ref. 2523 is not the only reason all eyes will be on Geneva on May 9 and 10. Held by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo at the Hôtel Président Wilson, the sale will put more than 200 timepieces on the block, spanning more than three centuries of superior watchmaking. Beyond the enamel-dial Patek Philippe at the top, the sale includes early F.P. Journe Souscription watches, complicated mid-century Rolex references, a modern Patek Philippe grand complication and a rare wartime Audemars Piguet.
Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon Ref. 6002G-010
- Lot 144 | Estimate: CHF 2,000,000-4,000,000
If the Ref. 2523 "South America" represents Patek Philippe's mid-century work, the Sky Moon Tourbillon shows the manufacture in full, modern grand complication mode. The 2018 Ref. 6002G-010 houses 12 complications inside an elaborately hand-engraved 18k white gold case, a highly elaborate combination of perpetual calendar, moon-phase, sidereal time and celestial display.
The front dial shows mean solar time alongside a perpetual calendar with retrograde date and moon-phase, while the reverse turns the watch into something closer to a miniature observatory, with a celestial chart of the northern sky, sidereal time and the moon-phase and orbit. This example is one of the few produced with a black enamel dial and, according to Phillips, only the second of its kind to appear at international auction.
With an estimate of CHF 2,000,000-4,000,000, the timepiece carries the highest projection in the sale after the Ref. 2523. But where the South America world-timer draws much of its intrigue from vintage rarity and enamel work, the Sky Moon Tourbillon puts Patek Philippe's mechanical ambitions on full display.
F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance "Souscription" No. 18
- Lot 6 | Estimate: CHF 450,000-900,000
For plenty of independent collectors, the most interesting lot may be the F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance "Souscription" No. 18, dating to circa 2000. The Souscription series is effectively the origin story of F.P. Journe as an independent manufacture. Borrowing from a sales model used by Abraham-Louis Breguet in the late 18th Century, François-Paul Journe asked a small circle of collectors to place deposits on watches before they were made. Their trust helped fund the workshop; in return, they received some of the first pieces from what would become one of the defining independent brands of the modern era.
The Chronomètre à Résonance followed the original Tourbillon Souverain à Remontoir d'Égalité, with early supporters invited to order Résonance watches bearing the same numbers as their tourbillons. This example belongs to the original group of 20 and is further distinguished by its two-tone platinum and 18k pink gold case, a configuration believed to have been made in only five Souscription Résonance examples. Of those, three are known to feature 18k white gold dials, including this watch.
The watch's estimate is CHF 450,000-900,000. That range is already serious, but early Journe has a way of becoming more than just another lot once bidding starts. This example sits close to the beginning of the story: one of the first 20 Résonance watches, tied to the original Souscription clients and made before F.P. Journe had become shorthand for the modern independent market. This is one to watch closely.
Rolex Ref. 6062 in stainless steel
- Lot 88 | Estimate: CHF 500,000-1,000,000
Rolex is represented by two major complicated vintage references in the sale, but the stainless steel Ref. 6062 is—by a hair—the more interesting of the pair. Launched in 1950, the watch was the first automatic Rolex to combine a triple calendar and moon-phase within a waterproof Oyster case.
That combination feels a bit strange through the lens of Rolex today, with the brand now defined above all by sports watches, professional instruments and incremental refinements to its watches' looks and mechanical performance. The Ref. 6062 belongs to a different era, when Rolex could still seem genuinely experimental, pairing everyday case logic with a dial full of calendar information and lunar display.
Phillips notes that the present example is especially well preserved, with a two-tone dial and a case retaining its original factory proportions. Estimated at CHF 500,000-1,000,000, it is one of the sale's strongest Rolex lots and a reminder that vintage Rolex complications have their own distinct place in the market, separate from the Daytona gravitational field.
Rolex "Dato-Compax Killy" Ref. 6036 in yellow gold
- Lot 118 | Estimate: CHF 500,000-1,000,000
The second major Rolex lot is a yellow gold Ref. 6036, better known as the "Dato-Compax Killy." Introduced in 1951, the reference combines a triple calendar with a chronograph, making it one of the most complicated wristwatches Rolex produced during the period.
The present example is housed in 18k yellow gold and described by Phillips as being in an extraordinary state of preservation. Its estimate of CHF 500,000-1,000,000 matches the stainless steel Ref. 6062, giving the sale two significant complicated Rolex references in the same projected range.
If the Ref. 6062 is the more unusual calendar-moon-phase Rolex, the Ref. 6036 is the more overtly instrument-like watch, with its chronograph and calendar functions arranged across a busy but surprisingly composed mid-century dial. Together, they show a side of vintage Rolex that sits far from the modern sports-watch shorthand now most associated with the brand.
Audemars Piguet Ref. 5503 triple-calendar chronograph
- Lot 26 | Estimate: CHF 400,000-800,000
One of Audemars Piguet's most compelling entries is a 1942 Ref. 5503 triple-calendar chronograph, estimated at CHF 400,000-800,000. Only five examples are known, according to Phillips, placing it among the rarest watches in the sale's calendar-complication group.
The watch is cased in stainless steel with 14k pink-gold accents, which, according to the auction house, was possibly a reflection of wartime material restrictions, and features teardrop lugs with a balanced calendar chronograph dial. The mixed-metal case gives the watch an unusual character, while the complication itself nods to AP's history with technical watchmaking, which runs as deep as any of the market's other key players.
For Audemars Piguet, so often viewed today through the Royal Oak and the integrated-bracelet sports watch, the Ref. 5503 is one of the auction's more interesting lots. And while the watch itself isn't the top projected result for the sale, it may be the kind of lot that reminds the market that AP was making complicated timepieces long before the integrated bracelet came to define its modern identity.
