Auctions: Only Watch Announces 62 Unique Lots For Its November Charity Sale
The 73 watchmakers participating in the biennial Only Watch charity auction have just announced the 62 lots that will be offered for sale on November 5 in Geneva. Luc Pettavino created Only Watch in 2005 with the goal of raising funds for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Every two years, watchmakers create one-off pieces to be auctioned at the sale, which is now conducted by Christie’s. It’s the place where piece unique Patek Philippe watches set records for the most expensive watch in the world, Tudor sets the internet on fire with unique Black Bays, and F.P. Journe always creates a unique movement.
Here are some of the highlights from this year’s upcoming Only Watch auction.
Audemars Piguet: Royal Oak Flying Tourbillon Openworked Only Watch Edition
Let’s start with Audemars Piguet, which has leaned into a few things AP does well to create the Flying Tourbillon Openworked: that’s Royal Oaks, ceramic cases, and open-worked (aka skeletonized) movements. This year’s Only Watch features a 41mm case and white ceramic bracelet that’s paired with AP caliber 2972, an openworked movement that’s been finished with the main plate and bridges in a vibrant blue. AP also touts the movement decoration on this special Royal Oak, in addition to white-gold hour markers and hands, and even the 22-karat gold automatic rotor has been colored with the same blue and rhodium tones.
Lot 5, estimate CHF 300,000 to 500,000
Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Marble
Working through the 62 lots alphabetically, let’s take a look next at Bulgari, which has created a special Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Marble for Only Watch. The typical 40mm DLC-treated titanium case and bracelet are covered in a layer of Verde di Alpi green marble (it’s just 0.5mm thick on the case and 0.4mm on the bracelet). Of course, the dial too has a thin layer of green-colored marble. At 6 o’clock, the marble reveals the flying tourbillon of the BVL 268, the world’s thinnest manually-wound flying tourbillon.
According to Bulgari, the marble comes from the Aosta Valley, the natural passage that links Switzerland and Bulgari’s home country of Italy through the Alps. The marble is also meant as a historical link between the Roman jeweler and the empire of Rome, with its monuments and ruins of marble. Speaking of Rome, winning this lot will also come with a one-night stay at Bulgari’s newest hotel in Rome – as the saying goes, “when in Rome!”
Lot 15, estimate CHF 150,000 to 250,000
F.P. Journe Chronomètre Bleu Furtif
F.P. Journe always creates a new movement for its Only Watch, and it’s done the same again this year. Meet the Chronomètre Furtif Bleu, featuring the new hand-wound caliber 1522 in 18K rose gold. It has a power reserve indicator and moon phase, both executed on the back of the movement and only visible through the display caseback.
The watch itself measures 42mm and features an all-tantalum case and bracelet. It takes its name from the difficulty of reading the time if the dial is not facing right at you. The blue enamel dial has frosted numerals only visible with the reflection of light, meant to be enjoyed “only by its owner.”
Lot 21, estimate CHF 200,000 to 400,000
Gerald Genta
The revived Gerald Genta brand, now under the guidance of Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini at La Fabriques du Temps Louis Vuitton, is participating in Only Watch for the first time. For the occasion, which it says also marks Disney’s 100th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of Genta creating his first watch under his own name, Genta (the brand) has unveiled a minute repeating Mickey Mouse watch in Genta’s signature octagonal case. The champlevé enamel dial features an enamel Mickey Mouse holding a birthday cake in one hand, a reference to Disney’s birthday and the 10th edition of Only Watch.
The 40mm white-gold case holds the new caliber GG-001 developed by La Fabrique du Temps. According to the revived Genta brand, this is a watch that was sketched by the designer but never created, and the first time a Genta watch combines a minute repeater with a retrograde animated by Mickey Mouse, a couple of Genta’s signatures.
Lot 27, estimate CHF 350,000 to 500,000
TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds For Only Watch
For this year’s Only Watch edition, TAG Heuer is introducing its very first mechanical split-seconds chronograph with a brand-new movement fitted inside the familiar Monaco case. But of course, it’s not any Monaco case; it’s made of textured titanium, again a new material developed by TAG for this project. Inside is the TAG Heuer Calibre TH81-00, an automatic split-seconds caliber that can be seen both through the sapphire caseback and the sapphire dial – the subdials are suspended via titanium bridges.
Like the Bulgari Only Watch, this Monaco comes with an experience: the winner will get to join TAG Heuer at the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix in May 2024.
Lot 55, CHF 150,000 to 300,000
Tudor Prince Chronograph One
Tudor always shows up for Only Watch. For 2023, it’s produced the Tudor Prince Chronograph One, featuring a new chronograph caliber presented in an 18-karat solid gold case that’s a reinterpretation of the classic Big Block Tudor chronographs of the ’90s. Tudor is calling the new prototype caliber the MT59XX, and it features column-wheel construction, has a silicon hairspring, and has a 70-hour power reserve.
Like all the other Tudor Only Watch creations, the description reads like a Tudor enthusiast’s fever dream, and no doubt this will end up selling for hundreds of thousands of Swiss francs – a couple of well-known collectors are known to battle it out for each Tudor Only Watch with fierce Pokemon “gotta-catch-’em-all” mentality. The paltry estimate here is just there to tease humble Black Bay wearers like you and me.
Lot 58, estimate CHF 25,000 to 35,000
Sylvaine Pinaud Only Watch Origine
Sylvain Pinaud is one of the most exciting independent watchmakers in Switzerland. His Origine won the Horological Revelation Prize at the 2022 GPHG, and now he’s created a unique Origine for Only Watch 2023. He’s taken his Origine and added a two-tone light blue and silver guilloche dial, all fitted in a 40mm steel case. The unique dial has a cool, modern effect on a watch that’s already a modern spin on some of the elements of traditional watchmaking that have inspired Pinaud and feels right at home in the Origine.
Lot 54, estimate CHF 70,000 to 100,000
Necklaces from Tiffany & Co. And Richard Mille
Finally, a two-for-one: both Richard Mille and Tiffany & Co. have created necklaces with watches for Only Watch 2023. Richard Mille has created the RMS14, which is a tribute to the Talisman Origine, a shamanic relic discovered centuries ago in Switzerland. The necklace features RM’s signature tonneau shape threaded on a necklace of Swiss briarwood, gold, titanium, and rhodonite. The press material for this reads more like a mystic incantation than a watch release, but what else would you expect from a unique Richard Mille?
Meanwhile, Tiffany & Co. has created a “Bird On A Rock Mechanical Pendant Watch” for Only Watch – it’s a reinterpretation of Tiffany & Co.’s Bird on a Rock brooch. Like me, you might not know much about Tiffany & Co. brooches, but close your eyes and picture your friend’s wealthy grandmother, and she’s probably wearing the Bird on a Rock – you just never realized it. This is more a piece of jewelry than a piece of watchmaking – it features 461 diamonds on the dial alone – but it does have a manual-wind movement sitting beneath that brilliant dial.
Richard Mille, lot 51, estimate CHF 600,000 to 800,000; Tiffany & Co., lot 56, estimate CHF 350,000 to 500,000
The Unknowns: Patek Philippe And Rexhep Rexhepi
A few brands have merely teased what they’ll be offering, including Patek Philippe and Rexhep Rexhepi.
First, Patek has merely offered us the following hints: For Philippe Stern’s 85th birthday in November, Thierry and Patek Philippe will be producing a 30-piece limited edition wristwatch with Philippe’s “favorite grand complication, which will feature an entirely new movement. This movement, designed and produced exclusively for this tribute watch, will never be used again.” The first watch from this limited edition will be produced with a unique Only Watch design and auctioned on November 5.
Meanwhile, independent watchmaker Rexhep Rexhepi has offered us a name for his Only Watch creation: the Chronomètre Antimagnétique. According to Rexhepi, it’ll be a wristwatch with all of his hallmarks but protected from magnetism by a Faraday cage surrounding the hand-finished movement. The dial, too, will take inspiration from the vintage “scientific dials” as a subtle nod to the watch’s purpose of anti-magnetism.
There’s no doubt that these will be two of the most anticipated watches from the Only Watch auction, so we’ll have more on these as soon as additional details are available.
Patek, lot 44, estimate TBD; Rexhepi, lot 50, estimate 100,000 to 150,000
It’s painful choosing only ten or so lots to feature in this initial Only Watch announcement – every single lot has an interesting story behind it. Lucky for us, we’ve got until November to go in-depth with at least a few of these watches before they go up for sale at Christie’s Geneva in November. Stay tuned for more as we get closer to the main event.
For the full list of lots and those participating in Only Watch, head to onlywatch.com.
Hodinkee
