Auctions: Previewing New York's Spring Auction Season At Phillips, Sotheby's, And Christie's

Auction season can be exhausting. I can barely believe that we do this twice a year. We often only have the time and energy to cover the main show in Geneva, with a few thousand lots offered between four auction houses just last month. But after Geneva and Hong Kong (which comes before Geneva for some houses and after for others), the circus comes to New York, and this year we're going to take a gander at the watches on offer in the city. Most auction houses don't drop their catalogs until after Geneva is over. That prevents people from holding their bids because they're doing the "distracted boyfriend meme" and looking at future watches. That keeps them from going all-in in Geneva, which isn't what the auction houses want. They want your bids now and later. Well, later is here, and I hope you have some cash left over. Weirdly, I'm getting a sense of déjà vu; there are a few familiar-looking watches. So let's go ahead and take a look. Phillips It was a banner weekend for Phillips in Hong Kong with a pretty fantastic $51.5 million sale, backed by the $10.2 million sale of the first series rose gold Patek 2499, which became the most expensive wristwatch ever sold in Asia. That is one of three mega Pateks Phillips was offering this season, which is rounded out by an incredibly clean and honest 1518. I know the record result means that that should be the watch to pick, all things being equal, but I still like a watch that looks basically untouched. Photo courtesy Phillips. Photo courtesy Phillips. Photo courtesy Phillips. Speaking of déjà vu. Speaking of déjà vu. The Geneva Phillips sale had a Souscription Résonance with a two-tone case and silver dial. That was one of five in two-tone cases, which is cool, but three had a silver dial. Two, however, had a pink dial, which makes the one being offered in New York rarer. The estimate is in excess of $1,000,000, but the other one sold for CHF 4,875,500. I'm sure that was just because I said it was my favorite version, though—I'm sure you can catch this one for a steal, right? Chronographs are always going to be a top lot, especially when you're talking Rolex and Patek. The Rolex ref. 6241 "John Player Special" is one of my top five favorite watches of all time. There is a fresh-to-market 14k version up for sale (rarer by far), and it looks to be in really nice condition. There's also a nice special-order rose-gold black-dial Patek ref. 5970 is up for sale for $400,000 to $800,000. It comes on the heels of two massive results for the reference, with a unique blue soleil-dialed platinum version selling for over $1.3 million in Hong Kong and a bespoke one for Michael Ovitz (sealed) going for even more at $1.6 million. That's a record for the reference and the second-highest result ever, all in one auction. Photo courtesy Phillips. That buries the lede a bit, as Phillips is offering one of the best Patek Philippe 5004s I've ever seen (high praise for a watch that I consider my favorite reference of all time). This is a unique version of the first serially-produced commercial offering of Patek Philippe split-second perpetual calendar watches, and it's basically all the best things you'd want if you were making a watch for yourself. Salmon dial. Breguet 12. Tachymeter for the chronograph.  It's in white gold, which is the rarest case material for 5004s, and it was made for Eric Clapton himself. For a while, one of his other 5004s held the record for the most expensive one at auction. That record was broken last year by a watch for Michael Ovitz (another top-five version of the reference), which sold for $1,500,000. This example should smash that number against the $700,000–1,400,000 estimate. Photo courtesy Phillips. Photo courtesy Phillips. Photo courtesy Phillips. Photo courtesy Phillips. Photo courtesy Phillips. Moving down the list, I expect independents to be strong, but the Geneva auction was stacked, so things might be a bit slower here. Yes, there is more Journe, of course, with a Tourbillon Souverain Anniversaire "Hong Kong", "Number 1 of 5", carrying an estimate of $600,000 to $1,200,000.  The second Roger Smith Series 3 is coming to market, just after the first. The estimate is a conservative $300,000 to $600,000, given that the last sold for CHF 700,000 and change. But that previous watch was a more reserved and traditional design, so it might be the stronger of the two. And then there's an Urban Jurgensen Minute Repeater Tourbillon that jumps out as being quite interesting. One of three, the estimate is $120,000 to 240,000. Urban Jürgensen did quite well at the last auction, including a CHF 508,000 result for a prototype Reference 2. I just don't see this one going quite as crazy, but man, that movement is beautiful. Sotheby's The biggest news out of Sotheby's is that the auction house has, yet again, got another Heuer Monaco with provenance from Steve McQueen's film Le Mans. Except this one is more cut-and-dried than the last. Frankly, I slightly glazed over it when I saw the press release because I mistakenly felt like I had heard this song before. There are a number of Monacos with Le Mans provenance floating around. We covered the last one in November 2024, when it was also offered at Sotheby's, but that one shook out to be basically a hanger-on to the Le Mans set. And yet it still sold for about $1.4 million, which is a crazy number, in my eyes.  Photo courtesy Sotheby's. This time, the story checks out, with hundreds of documents from the prop master for the movie, records, signed letters, and more, that show that the Heuer here was actually worn by McQueen during the legendary movie. The estimate is the same as the last—$500,000 to $1,000,000—but obviously the watch is more important by a long shot. You'd expect it to go for way more than in 2024, but Heuer watches are fickle things at auction, and so are pop culture collectors. I hope this gets a good result, but if it doesn't, it's a cautionary tale, with messy stories on one watch affecting another. Photo courtesy Sotheby's. Photo courtesy Sotheby's. Photo courtesy Sotheby's. Sotheby's is also continuing to roll out more Cartier watches, a brand that has done quite well despite the overwhelming number that they've offered this year. The ones that caught my eye this go-around are the ones that are a bit of oddballs—watches that don't necessarily scream traditional Cartier. If you're shopping for a Crash, Cintree, or Normale, you're late to the party. So I noticed there's this interesting triple calendar date watch from 1946 that looks like a bunch of other brands from the time, including LeCoultre (which signed this watch inside). And while a colleague in the office recently said she loves the Cartier Bamboo, this version is definitely not the one she was thinking of (but it's cool because it's so weird).  Also weird is this Cartier/Bueche-Girod pear watch. Bueche-Girod has an unusual and unclear relationship with Cartier that warrants a separate story, but you're not going to find anything like it outside Cartier New York. Finally, there are an AP for Cartier Carré and a Universal Geneve for JLC for Cartier pocket watch (with a built-in stand), which are fun ways to explore the complicated history of Cartier. Photo courtesy Sotheby's. I can't, for the life of me, find a way to theme the final watches I wanted to highlight, so it'll be a grab bag. The first-ever (to my knowledge) rose gold Simon Brette Chronomètre Artisans to come to market is up for grabs, with a $100,000 to $200,000 estimate, which is much less than one apparently traded for privately recently (according to some sources). On the vintage side, you rarely, if ever, see such a big estimate on a Rolex ref. 5510 "Big Crown", but the team says that this is basically new old stock. I'm pretty over that descriptor, but look at the chamfers on that watch. It looks like it never even saw someone look at it sideways, which is probably why the estimate is $400,000 to $800,000. Finally, there's a JLC Reverso retailed by E. Gübelin, which isn't a common sight when it's from the 1930s. The estimate is a more reasonable $10,000 to $20,000. Photo courtesy Sotheby's. Photo courtesy Sotheby's. Finally, there are (of course) a number of interesting Pateks in the sale, but it's worth focusing on a few in particular. There's a unique ref. 5216P perpetual calendar minute-repeating tourbillon, which is already an overlooked and short-lived reference. A unique one in the $400,000-$800,000 range feels right. A ref. 5951 is also an uncommon bird—a perpetual calendar split-second chronograph—and it wasn't really as loved at the time as the follow-up ref. 5372 with the same movement. Which also means it's quite rare, and rare means special for Patek. The estimate is also cheaper than a 5004 is right now, so why not?  For an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000, you can pick up a coin watch. Why so much? Well, it's a $20 double eagle. Oh yeah, also it was made for Henry Graves, Jr., arguably the greatest collector of his era (maybe of all time). Oh, and they've got the third-ever ref. 3448 made, signed by Tiffany to boot. Not bad for Patek. Finally, it's worth looking at the pair of refs. 565 and ref. 96 with similar Breguet dials and luminous hands, though the 565 has a Tiffany signature. The case is strong for both, but obviously, the 565 is the standout.  Last but not least, I can't miss calling out this super cool Rolex ref. 1675 GMT-Master in yellow gold with the brown "nipple dial" (one of my least favorite nicknames for anything watch-related, for whatever that's worth), which is a cool watch in its own right. But this one belonged to and was worn by Peter Fonda in the 1969 film Easy Rider. The estimate is $50,000 to 100,000 and I have to admit, if I had $50k to spare, I'd throw in a bid because it feels pretty badass. But there's another one in the same auction that belonged to Don Nunley, the Propmaster for Le Mans, with an estimate of $40,000 to $80,000. Christie's We're almost at the end of the season previews for the big three auction houses, and there is, of course, something big at Christie's worth mentioning. A Patek Philippe ref. 3448 "Red Dot" is a thing of beauty and a heck of an unusual watch. Even more unusual, the watch has two cases. A short overview of the history is that Alan Banbery worked with Patek back in 1975 to modify a 3448 so it had a leap year indicator instead of a moonphase (the watch was known as the Senza Luna and sold back in 2021 for more than CHF 3.5 million). In 1981, Philippe Stern continued the idea with the ref. 3563, a unique watch with a red dot to show a leap year and preserving the moonphase. A third watch was made, and then this one, the fourth. Photo courtesy Christie's. As previously mentioned, this watch was originally delivered in a standard white-gold case, which is iconic for its strong lugs. Then the client returned the watch to Patek and had it converted to a watch with a handmade chain bracelet. It's a weird and cool watch, but one that I think stands well enough alone on its original strap, so if I were buying (if anyone cares to front me the $800,000 to $1,600,000 estimate), I'd be swapping it back to the OG spec and wearing it as my dress watch. Photo courtesy Christie's. I'm going to keep it brief for the rest of the Christie's preview. There are three more watches that immediately jumped out at me as worth a closer look if you're trying to spend a lot of money on something cool and esoteric. First, there's a ref. 5959R, which is probably the least-seen version of Patek's first-ever in-house chronograph reference. Yes, Patek's first in-house chronograph was a split-second. Yes, they made it 33mm, and therefore, it's overlooked because it's just pretty hard to wear.  They made 15 pieces, and they hardly ever come up for sale, so the $250,000 to $500,000 price will probably be right for someone. More esoteric? How about a watch that takes a minute to understand why it looks weird? Got it? This is a Rolex double-seconds ref. 5028 watch with a center sweep and subsidiary seconds, and it's oversized at 36mm. The watch last sold in 2023 at Monaco Legend Group, so the owner obviously didn't want to hold it that long. Photo courtesy Christie's. Last, but not least, is the Audemars Piguet Jump Hour in 18k white gold. This is one of the watches from 1928 that AP made with the caliber 10''' GHSM movement, and which led to the relaunch of what is known as the Neo Frame Jumping Hour earlier this year. However, this one lacks the shaped lugs that the new model stole from the old. That said, I would still take the vintage offering here, even though I am sure the $30,000 to $50,000 estimate is pretty conservative.