On November 14 and 15 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Geneva, Antiquorum will hold its 35th anniversary sale, and among the more than 300 timepieces to be offered is one that should make any horology aficionado breathe a bit faster… a Patek Philippe Calibre 89 from the Matsuda Collection.
Patek Philippe Calibre 89 Watch
The exquisite yellow gold pocket watch was made in 1989 and remains the most complex timepiece in the world. The Caliber 89, an open-faced astronomical watch with two dials, was made to mark the watch brand’s 150th anniversary. It has 33 complications in five categories of functions: timekeeping, calendar, chronograph, chime, and operational functions. There are only four models—one each in yellow, pink, and white gold, and one in platinum.
The pocket watch is very thick and weights 1.1kg! The case is done in 18k yellow gold. It was made to honor the 150th anniversary of the important Swiss brand. This watch contained 332 screws, 129 rubies, 429 mechanical components, 68 springs, 24 hands, 184 wheels, it has a perpetual and secular calendar, phases of the moon, a chronograph and it chimes too!
Sale of the Calibre 89 had generated great interest in the horological and collectors sectors. In just a few minutes of bidding, the timepiece managed to fetch a final bid of CHF 5,120,000 ($5,053,360), setting a new world record for this watch and also the most expensive watch sold in 2009 by any auction house in the world. As expected Patek Philippe continued to be the favorite brand at the auction with other timepiece from the famous watchmaker fetching extremely strong prices.
Patek Philippe Calibre 89 Watch
Some of the timepieces that were best sellers at this auction include, the Patek Philippe platinum and diamond wristwatch Ref. 3990 which fetched 312,000 CHF ($307,990), the white gold Patek Philippe ref. 5102 “Celestial” that fetched 228,000 CHF ($225,090), and the Patek Philippe Ref. 5041, a rare white gold wristwatch with perpetual calendar sold for a commendable 102,000 CHF ($100,710).
Overall, an extremely successful sale, the Antiquorum’s anniversary sale “Celebrating 35 Years of Making History in Time” drew an impressive 12,174,948 CHF ($12,020,873) in total sales over the two days.
Patek Philippe Calibre 89 Watch
