Last Emperor's Watch Sells for Record $6.2m
May 25, 23
(IDEX Online) - A Patek Philippe owned by the last emperor of China sold for $6.2m at Phillips Hong Kong, smashing its pre-sale high estimate of $3m.
It belonged to Aisin-Gioro Puyi, last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, who was forced to abdicate when he was just six during the Xinhai Revolution, and whose life and times are dramatized in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor.
The platinum Refc96 Quantieme Lune triple date watch was made in 1937 with moon phases, roulette-dial, enamel Arabic numerals and pink gold feuille hands.
It is unclear how Puyi acquired the watch, but it is known to have survived the five years he spent in later life in a Soviet prison camp in Siberia.
The watch was sold to an unidentified phone bidder from Hong Kong and became the most valuable lot ever sold by Phillips Watches in Asia.
Pic courtesy Phillips