$3m Patek Philippe Leads "Highest Value Watch Auction in US"
October 19, 26
(IDEX Online) - A rare second-series Patek Philippe Reference 2499 in 18-karat pink gold is expected to lead Phillips' New York Watch Auction XV, with an estimate in excess of $3 million.
The auction is scheduled for December 5 and 6 and is described as the highest-value watch auction ever assembled in the United States.
Phillips' has not provided an estimated total for all lots, but its New York watch auction, in June 2026 realized $75.8 million.
The auction house says only eight second-series examples of the Reference 2499 in pink gold are publicly known, out of the 349 watches produced over nearly 35 years. The perpetual calendar chronograph was introduced in 1951 and discontinued in 1985.
The auction record for the model is HK$60.3 million (about $7.7 million), paid at Sotheby's Hong Kong in April 2022 for a 1957 pink-gold example signed by retailer Gobbi Milano.
Other highlights of the New York auction include a second-generation F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain and a pink-gold Pre-Souscription Chronometre a Resonance, each estimated at $600,000 to $1.2 million.
Phillips describes the latter as the only known example in pink gold. An Octa Reserve de Marche prototype, one of three made during development, carries an estimate above $500,000.
A Cartier Model A Mystery Clock commissioned by Egypt's King Farouk I in 1936 and delivered the following year is expected to fetch more than $500,000. Made with rock crystal, platinum, black onyx and diamonds, it bears the Egyptian royal crown and Farouk's diamond-set initial.
The sale also includes a unique Akrivia AK-02 Tourbillon, estimated at $500,000 to $1 million, and a Patek Philippe Reference 5971 set with 42 baguette-cut emeralds around the bezel and seven emerald hour markers, estimated at $600,000 to $1.2 million.
Another notable offering is a Rolex Daytona associated with comedian and watch collector Jerry Seinfeld.
Pic, courtesy Phillips, shows the Patek Philippe Reference 2499 in 18-karat pink gold.