Enthusiastic room biddingExcellent Results for Antiquorum's First Auction of 2010
Antiquorum achieved excellent results for its two day sale of Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, Pocket Watches & Clocks on March 10th and 11th in New York resulting in the outstanding sum of $5,000,388. The auction of 467 timepieces including ‘The Arman Collection’ from world renowned artist Arman attracted a record number of 584 registered internet bidders, the most ever in Antiquorum history.
Enthusiastic room bidding, in addition to telephone and internet bidding came from countries such as Spain, Russia, China, Canada, Italy as well as the United States. Remarkable prices were achieved resulting in an impressive 90% of the lots being sold – representing one of the highest sell thru rates in Antiquorum’s history.
“The introduction of a live video feed, to compliment online bidding, has created a steady increase in online participantion, both domestically and internationally, as the online bidding experience becomes more comparable to physically being in the room.” said Evan Zimmermann, President & CEO, Antiquorum.
“We are encouraged by the results achieved today for collectible timepieces,” said Julien Schaerer, Watch Director & Auctioneer, Antiquorum USA. “As confirmed by these results, prices realized for rare vintage and modern wristwatches have increased by 15% in the past year. We anticipate that prices will continue to strengthen in the year ahead as consumer confidence in the market continues to build.”
The Arman Collection drew global attention from watch collectors and art aficionados alike. Many of the pieces attained outstanding prices. The Patek Philippe ref. 3970 (lot 467) sold for a noteworthy $ 87,600 while the Patek Philippe ref. 3971 (lot 466) achieved $ 84,000. In addition the Patek Philippe ref. 1415 “World Time” in yellow gold (lot 465) fetched a significant sum of $ 84,000. Moreover, the very rare Patek Philippe ref. 2459 “Devil’s Horns” (lot 464) drew considerable interest from collectors and sold for $ 38,400. Also of note, the Cartier “Tank Reversible Basculante”(lot 435) was in great demand and sold for an incredible $ 18,000 – three times its high estimate. In addition, the Minerva “Oversize Split – Second Chronograph” (lot 392) achieved a fantastic $15,600.
“We are very pleased by the outcome of ‘The Arman Collection’ in today’s sale. These results confirm enthusiasm on behalf of the collector community for a retrospective collection of timepieces that were chosen by a world renowned artist, demonstrating their willingness to pay a premium for timepieces with important provenance,”said Charles Tearle, Watch Expert & Director, Antiquorum USA
Furthermore, Patek Philippe timepieces attained notable prices. The Patek Philippe ref. 5970 in white gold (lot 218) sold for a remarkable $ 138,000 while the Patek Philippe ref. 3970 in platinum (lot 220) obtained $141,600. Another excellent price was fetched by the Patek Philippe ref 5059 in platinum (lot 375) which sold for $ 69,600.
Breguet also did exceptionally well with the “Platinum Minute – Repeater Perpetual Calendar” (lot 308) which attained $ 126,000. In addition, Rolex achieved good results; the “Pro – Hunter Black Daytona” (lot 166) sold for $ 25,200 while the Rolex ref. 1665 “Double Red – Mark II” (lot 331) obtained $ 33,600. Furthermore, the Rolex ref. 1680 “ Red Submariner Mark II” (lot 162) fetched $ 14,400 at the March auction.
In addition, impressive prices were obtained for IWC. The IWC platinum “Big Pilot” (lot 149) sold for $ 30,000 and the IWC “GST Deep One “ in titanium (lot 152) achieved $ 16,800, a world record for the reference. Moreover, FP Journe was also in demand with its platinum “Chronometre a Resonance” (lot 212) which sold for $ 50,400.
Not to be overlooked was the Officine Panerai PAM 203 “Luminor 1950 8 Day” which attained $ 108,000. In addition, the A. Lange & Sohne platinum “Double Split Flyback” (lot 216) sold for an impressive $ 84,000. Also, the Tudor chronograph with black dial, Ref. 7032 (lot 42) fetched an amazing $ 38,400. Finally, the Cartier onyx desk clock (lot 94) stirred collectors’ interest and sold for an exceptional $ 26,400.
Antiquorum looks forward to the next auction in Geneva on March 20th & 21st which will feature a wide variety of modern collectible watches as well as some exquisite Patek Philippe timepieces.