30 million for the Phillips’ Watch Auction XI
Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo has resumed its live watch auctions with the Geneva Watch Auction XI achieving a total of CHF 30,072,875 ($31,720,869 / €28,271,510), selling 100% by lot and 100% by value. Exceeding the pre-sale estimate of CHF 12.2 million to CHF 23.2, this marked the first live watch auction in 2020 with in room bidding since the lockdown was lifted and saw numerous world records achieved across multiple watch brands. This is both the first ever white glove sale (100% of lots sold) and the highest sale total for a non-thematic various owner watch auction. The tightly curated offering of 210 collector watches of exceptional quality was highlighted by the four Patek Philippe cover-lots, property of watch industry titan Mr. Jean-Claude Biver, selling for a total of CHF 8,307,500 against a pre-sale estimate of CHF 3.3 million to CHF 6.6 million.