Two Patek Philippe wristwatches have sold for world record amounts at the highly competitive and extremely successful Antiquorum auction in New York.
The Important Collectors' Wristwatches, Pocket Watches & Clocks was held on September 17.
Competitive bidding for the exceptional Matsuda Collection of extraordinary Patek Philippe wristwatches led to impressive results for each.
The Ref. 5016 in platinum brought $178,000 - a world record for that reference - while the Ref. 3939 in platinum also sold for a world record $684,000. Both watches stirred incredible excitement among bidders at the packed auction.
The third Patek Philippe watch, the platinum Ref. 5013 (lot 412) sold for an impressive $564,000.
"The spectacular results of the Matsuda Collection confirms that collectors today are willing to pay a premium for watches that have been chosen by and were in the collection of well respected collectors, thereby insuring that their own collection will one day be similarly sought after", said Evan Zimmermann, President and CEO, Antiquorum.
Several other Patek Philippe timepieces achieved exceptionally strong prices.
Both of the Patek Philippe Ref. 5970s in the sale sold extremely well.
The traditional pink gold Ref. 5970 attained $156,000, while the other pink gold Ref. 5970 retailed by Tiffany, sold for $162,000.
A yellow gold Patek Philippe Ref. 5004, sold for $204,000. Also, the Patek Philippe Ref 3448, retailed by Tiffany, fetched $132,000. The Patek Philippe 18K yellow gold Jumbo Ref. 3700/1 achieved $ 39,600.
Elsewhere, Cartier, Beguet, Omega, Seiko, Vacheron Constantin also enjoyed successful sales.
"We are delighted by the outcome for today's auction," said Julien Schaerer, Watch Director & Auctioneer, Antiquorum USA.
"We are particularly pleased by the results achieved for Patek Philippe timepieces signed by major retailers as well as all original early Omega wristwatches," he said.
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.
