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Auction houses under the microscope
Economy

Auction houses under the microscope

Thursday, 14 June 2012
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Christophe Roulet
Editor-in-chief, HH Journal

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2 min read

The recent spring sales in Geneva certainly lived up to expectations, particularly at Christie’s. At the end of an eight-hour marathon, the auction house garnered a total CHF 30.3 million (EUR 25.5 million), its second highest ever result including record prices for two Breguet timepieces. The international head of Christie’s watch department, Aurel Bacs, spoke enthusiastically about the depth of bidding with buyers from 42 different countries, and the strong presence of private collectors who took eight of the day’s top ten sales.

“The spring sales again highlighted, were it ever necessary, that Christie’s is the uncontested leader in watch auctions,” observed Alfredo Paramico, a renowned collector, particularly of Patek Philippe, and manager of Precious Time, an investment fund dedicated to watches. “Its success derives first and foremost from Christie’s capacity to propose a first-class catalogue of exclusive timepieces whose originality, provenance and quality are undisputed.” By way of example, he cites the sale in Hong Kong on May 30th. “I have to say I was bowled over by the catalogue. Never had I seen such a complete offering, especially in the contemporary timepieces sector. It comes as no surprise that this was the most valuable sale for watches in Asia, with a result of EUR 17.2 million.”

While confirming Christie’s dominance, Alfredo Paramico notes the return of Antiquorum centre-stage. “The company’s management have been intelligent enough not to challenge Christie’s on its own ground. Instead they are focusing on a different offering, which I for one appreciate. In fact at the last Antiquorum sale in May, our Precious Time fund acquired two watches: a white gold Patek Philippe Ref. 3445 and a Rolex Ref. 1587 Jump-Hour, Prince Railway. The same cannot be said of Sotheby’s which is trying, in my opinion in vain, to keep pace with Christie’s. Hence a lack of confidence as to the proposed pieces. The June 14th sale of two major collections will be the litmus test. If it fails to deliver positive results, I think the company should abandon its Geneva sales for the good of a market which is currently enjoying excellent momentum.”

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