Here are the top five lots sold at the Only Watch 2024 auction, including the Patek Philippe Ref. 6301A-010 that sold for whopping CHF 15.7 million
After a six-month delay, the Only Watch auction 2024 at long last took place in Geneva. 47 pieces were auctioned in total, including a one-of-a-kind Patek Philippe Sonnerie Minute Repeater and a tribal pendant watch from Richard Mille.
Here’s a low-down on the the top five lots from the 10th edition of Only Watch 2024 that raised $31.1 Million USD
Patek Philippe Sonnerie Minute Repeater
Taking a whopping US $ 17.3 million at Only Watch 2024 was the timepiece as elusive as it is majestic – from its Rare Handcrafts dial with a mesmerizing hand-guilloche pattern that resembled the ripples on the blue surface of the ocean. The hour markers of Patek Philippe Sonnerie Minute Repeater are swapped for sleek baguette-cut diamonds and its power reserve indicators feature the “only one” inscription. The manually-wound caliber GS 36 – 750 PS IRM features both Grande and Petite Sonnerie as well as a Minute Repeater complications, with the latter one chiming the classical three gongs.
Richard Mille Talisman Origine
Armed with its storied horological expertise and insatiable ambition, Richard Mille excavated the sacred timekeeping traditions of ancient tribes that populated modern-day Switzerland in a one-of-a-kind objet d’art. This pendant watch blends the maison’s celebrated skeletonized architecture, which here is realized in titanium, rhodonite, and gold, with a shamanic relic of a necklace uncovered during archeological expeditions in the Swiss valleys. This iconoclastic piece of history was sold for an impressive 2.38 million Swiss Francs.
Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Antimagnétique
There’s no union of cutting-edge science and long-standing horological tradition more impressive than the one encapsulated by Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Antimagnétique. The timepiece, which went for 2.1 million Swiss Francs at Only Watch 2024, features a Faraday cage, which protects it from magnetism in the form of a rare metal case made by Jean-Pierre Hagmann’s workshop. Meanwhile, its dial features alternating blocks on the hour scale to represent the polarities of a magnetic field.
F.P. Journe Chronometre Bleu Furtif
Simple and unassuming at first glance, the F.P. Journe Chronomètre Bleu Furtif racked 2 million Swiss Francs at Only Watch 2024 thanks to its 18k rose gold movement, which peeks through its sapphire caseback. This watch serves as a testament to intimacy associated with true luxury; only its owner can enjoy the view of the moonphase and power reserve indicators, as they’re integrated into the movement, while the casual onlookers may only steal a gaze at its blue enamel dial (if they manage to decipher the subtle frosted numbers that are).
Louis Vuitton Tambour Einstein Automata
When Louis Vuitton announced their entry into Only Watch late last year, the dial depicting Albert Einstein made ripples through public discourse, once again solidifying the maison’s firm grip on popular culture. Aptly named Tambour Einstein Automata, this timepiece combines its micro-sculpture and grisaille enamel techniques, which makes the world’s most famous scientist’s mischievous portrait come to life. The Tambour case conceals the LV 525 caliber, which provides tie-on-demand through a series of animations.
