Phillips Sets U.S. Watch Auction Record With $75.8 Million Sale
Phillips has pushed the American watch market into new territory. The auction house’s two-day New York Watch Auction: XIV, held in association with Bacs & Russo, totaled $75.8 million and became the highest-grossing watch auction in U.S. history. The result surpassed the record Phillips set only last December, when a sale reached $43.5 million.
The strongest signal came from the top lot: an ultra-rare F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance “Souscription, No. 007,” which sold for $13.92 million after nearly nine minutes of bidding. The watch set multiple benchmarks at once, becoming the most expensive watch ever sold by the maker, the highest-priced watch by any independent watchmaker, and the most valuable 21st-century watch offered at a commercial auction.
Phillips said the result reflected unusual depth at the top of the market. In a statement, Paul Boutros and Isabella Proia called the sale “a watershed moment” and said the record, set just six months after the previous one, pointed to “remarkable confidence” among collectors.
Independent watchmakers dominated the sale’s upper tier. Four additional F.P. Journe watches sold between $1.9 million and $5 million, while a Kari Voutilainen Masterpiece Chronograph climbed from a low estimate of $120,000 to $1.8 million. A Roger Smith Ref. Series 3 “Unique Piece” brought $1.2 million, also a record.
The top 10 also included a possibly unique Patek Philippe Ref. 5004G-020 made for Eric Clapton, which sold for $5.2 million, and a Patek Philippe Ref. 1518 that realized just under $4 million. Rolex appeared as well, with a 1969 Daytona Ref. 6241 “John Player Special” hammering at $1.8 million.
The sale suggests that collectors are still willing to pay aggressively for rarity, provenance, and the cachet of independent production. For now, at least, F.P. Journe has emerged as the clearest beneficiary of that appetite.
