Antiquorum's September '09 sale in New York was a roaring success, with sales totalling $9m.
And its success may signal that collectible wristwatches appears to have recovered to pre-recession numbers, according to Antiquorum's chairman.
Patek Phillipe managed to incredibly break two world records, with the sale of their Ref. 5016 and Ref. 3939 watches for $178,000 and $684,000, respectively.
Elsewhere, Cartier, Breguet, Omega and Vacheron Constantin also enjoyed standout sales.
A Cartier platinum "Tortue XL Tourbillon Chrongraph Monopossoir" attained $186,000. In addition, an Audemars Piguet remarkably brought $228,000 for a titanium "Jules Audemars- Grande Complication Automatique."
Breguet attained a superb result: the Sympathique, No. 2 exceptional gilt bronze astronomical clock, accompanied by an 18K yellow gold tourbilllon wristwatch, achieved $564,000.
And Omega brought excellent prices - its steel chronograph produced in 1942 sold for $36,000 while the Omega "Speedmaster" attained $ 45,600.
Elsewhere, a Seiko worn in space by explorer Richard Garriott sold brought an incredible $45,600; and a watch given to Marlon Brando by Zsa Zsa Gabor sold for $18,000, six times its estimate.
"The exceptional outcome for our September auction is a clear indication that the market for rare and collectible timepieces is thriving.
"As the world economy is showing signs of recovery, the demand for collectible wristwatches appears to have recovered to pre-recession numbers," said Robert Maron, Chairman of Antiquorum.
Overall, the auction featured 414 rare and collectible timepieces presented to the standing room only crowd. In addition, 490 global internet and phone bidders also participated.
Notable international bidding came from countries such as Italy, Turkey and Hong Kong. Strong prices were achieved - 85% of items were sold by lot and 133% were sold by value.
Antiquorum's next auction is in Geneva on October 3-4, featuring another extraordinary collection of modern and vintage collectible timepieces.
