Antiquorum continues to play it safe with world’s most complicated timepiece
Sometime, I will start writing about watch auctions other than Antiquorum. It’s a toughie, because they really have the market pinned down. Having already set a number of records this year, some of which we’ve already covered, the auction house is now looking to celebrate their 35th anniversary by putting the world’s most complicated timepiece, the Patek Philippe cal 89, up for sale. Usually, I try discriminate as much as I can when it comes to these events by going out of my way not to highlight PP, since they are always the center of attention anyway, and always the breaker of records – readers will remember my fascination for the Marlon Brando Vacheron Constantin a while back.
This time though, I will be having a tough time because the cal 89 is really something else. Much like the two pieces in the articles linked above, the astonishing timepiece comes from the famed Matsuda collection. Featuring no less than 33 complications, the watch was originally made in just four examples (other than the present yellow gold version, Patek also made one of pink gold, one of white gold and one of platinum). The pocket watch was created in celebration of PP’s 150th anniversary in 1989 – weighing in at a heft 1,1kg. The mere research that went into the production took five years alone – with the actual production taking four. Some of the complications include a thermometer, century, decade and year displays, a leap year indicator, time of sunrise and sunset and even a star chart to name a few.
The estimate is uncharacteristically high for Antiquorum (we still haven’t forgotten the ridiculous Steve McQueen Submariner estimate) at $4,420,000 to $5,400,000. The white gold version sold for around $5,000,000 in 2004, meaning that the upcoming November auction might serve as a health measurement of the luxury market, depending what the yellow gold 89 ends up selling for. Only time will tell.
For sale on JamesList.com
35,990 $
7,290 €
P.O.R