Every luxury watch manufacturer is determined to out do one another in creating the world’s most expensive, elaborate watch. Sometimes it’s not bold innovation or excessive gemstones, it’s classic vintage – just look at Rolex’s 1949 Oyster Perpetual model.
Christie’s auction house in Geneva set the bar for luxury watches when they auctioned off the 1949 vintage Oyster Perpetual rolex for $1.2 million. The watch was expected to fetch around $500,000, but an anonymous bidder launched the bidding up to $1.2 million making it the most expensive Rolex ever sold. Designed by Marguerite Koch, the 18-karat gold automatic watch depicts a whale and ship sailing on the rough seas.
As we were saying about most expensive watches being old school – well, we may be convinced that’s the recipe. While this watch fetched a great sum, Christie’s also auctioned off a Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon that was made in 1927 for $1.3 million. In total, Christie’s auctioned off 435 timepieces for a grand total of $26.5 million.
The market for collectible watches is something to watch with a keen eye. According to reports, the market grew about 4% over the past year and 32% over the past 5 years. There’s no doubt a limited supply of collectible watches so we can’t expect the growth to continue at this rate, however there is a strong demand for vintage watches that will keep prices high despite economic troubles.
Image via Christie’s
