Set of Four Ultra-Rare Watches Could Fetch $20m
November 20, 25
(IDEX Online) - A set of four Patek Philippe pocket watches - one each in yellow gold, white gold, rose gold, and platinum - could sell for $20m at a landmark auction by Sotheby's in Abu Dhabi.
It's one of just five sets, known as Star Caliber 2000, and created as an ultra-limited edition to mark the millennium.
Only one watch has since been sold at auction, a yellow gold model that fetched $3.3m in 2012 at Christie's Hong Kong. Sotheby's estimate for a full set - the only full set ever to appear at auction - is $10m to $20m.
The "exceptional, highly important and extremely rare" set of four double-dialled clock watches boasts 21 complications.
They include Westminster chimes ( a faithful reproduction of the sounds of Big Ben), minute repeating, power reserve indicator for movement and chime, perpetual calendar, leap year cycle, sunrise and sunset, running equation of time, sky chart, time of meridian passage by Sirius, lunar orbit, time of meridian passage by the moon, 24 hours and rapid calendar correction.
The Star Caliber 2000 set is one of many highlights in Sotheby's inaugural week of sales - The Collectors' Week in Abu Dhabi - with $1bn of luxury and fine art either on exhibit or for sale.
Jewelry, watches, handbags, collector cars, and real estate valued at $150m will be offered in what is calling "the most valuable auctions ever staged in the region".
Among the high-value lots that were announced previously is the 31.86-carat pear-shaped Desert Rose, the largest fancy vivid orangy pink diamond in the world, with an estimate of $5m to $7m.
The Collectors' Week in Abu Dhabi is from 2 to 5 December.