A unique Patek Philippe watch sold for $4.3m at Sotheby’s New York – the highest price realized by the auction house for a timepiece this year.
But it was well below the $7.75m achieved by the same watch when it changed hands at Sotheby’s Hong Kong.
The pink gold perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch with moon phases, was made in 1957 and was sold by the Milan-based retailer Gobbi Milano.
It was one of just nine made and is the only one known to still exist.
A private collector paid $4.3m for the watch, which had a pre-sale estimate of $3m to $5m. It led the Important Watches: Take a Minute sale last Tuesday (10 June).
In 2007 the watch sold for CHF 2.7m ($2,.2m at historic exchange rate) at Christie’s Geneva.
Swiss watch exports slumped in February, down 8.2 per cent, with sales in China down by a quarter.
The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry Exports (FHS) described it as a “marked slowdown in an uncertain climate”.
It follows a brief return to growth in January, when foreign sales rose by 4.1 per cent after a 2024 marked by steady decline.
China, the third biggest market for Swiss watches, saw sales plunge by 25 per cent year-on-year in February. Exports to Hong Kong, the second biggest market, fell by 12.5 per cent, and they were down 19.1 per cent to Japan.
In the US they fell 6.7 per cent, in marked contrast to a 16.2 per cent increase the previous month.
“Most of the main markets saw significant declines in February,” the FHS said in its monthly update. “Swiss watch exports fell back by 8.2% in February, despite a favourable base effect.”
The six biggest markets, representing just over half of all Swiss watch exports, recorded a combined decease of 12.5 per cent.
Mid-priced watches – CHF 500 to CHF 3,000 ($550 to $3,300) – suffered the biggest losses, down over 15 per cent by value.
Sales of watches and jewelry in the US dipped in January, for the first time in well over a year. They were 3.0 per cent less than the previous January, according to the latest figures from the US Department of Commerce.
In addition, revisions to November and December sales figures now show slower growth than originally reported.
Figures based on actual through-the-till transactions, rather than estimates, put sales at +2.6 per cent and +1.5 per cent respectively, rather than the revised figures of +3.0 per cent and +4.0 per cent.
Sales of watches and jewelry had been in positive growth since October 2023, and they peaked last September and October at around 10 per cent. Prior to that they’d been in overall decline since October 2022.
Swiss watch exports slumped in December, with the US suffering its first drop in six months.
Total foreign sales were down 5.4 per cent year-on-year to CHF 2.033bn ($2.23bn) in what the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry Exports (FHS) said was a “sharp contraction”. It’s the biggest drop since June 2024 (-7.2 per cent).
Sales in China continued their decline (down 19.0 per cent), ditto Hong Kong (down 6.4 per cent). Hong Kong is currently the second biggest market globally for Swiss watches and China is the third.
Exports to the biggest single market, the US, fell by 1.0 per cent during the month, ins spite of the holiday season, following on from a 4.7 per cent increase in November.
Among the top 15 markets, the only ones to show growth during the month were UAE (+0.6 per cent), United Kingdom (+5.8 per cent), Spain (+19.3 per cent) and Australia (+7.2 per cent).
The FHS said it recorded falls in all price segments, with the sharpest decline among watches priced at CHF 200 to CHF 500 ($220 to $550). The CHF 500 to CHF 3,000 ($550 to $3,300) segment held up better, declining by just 1.8 per cent.
The latest Breguet watch is a marvelous piece with beautiful diamonds and a unique design. It symbolizes the brand’s innovative spirit and horological elegance, passed down through time. Thanks to a unique stone-setting technique, the watch has an elegant pattern that makes the dial stand out. According to Breguet, the Classique Tourbillion 3358 is the embodiment of Abraham Louis Breguet’s ideas, which date back to 1801.
Abraham Louis, the founder of the brand, came up with a unique technique of setting gems on a watch’s dial in the 19th century. While this timepiece has a dazzling front face, it also stands out due to its mechanical precision. Abraham Louis’ innovations merged these two fields into one—mechanical precision and style.
The dial comes with different diamonds, set in different positions to create a circular pattern that converges at one point, reflecting light stylishly. Stones are positioned close to one another to cover the base that supports them.
In terms of performance, this timepiece is powered by one of the most innovative movements from the brand, the in-house caliber 187D tourbillon, which is capable of offering a 50-hour power reserve. It’s a movement that was developed for precision and accuracy by Abraham Louis but has been updated over the past few decades to keep up with the times.
Speaking of which, the watch’s dial has different cuts, which offer views into the mechanism. While the front face features hundreds of diamonds, the back has an interesting moon-like texture, characterized by grooves and ridges.
Rolex’s pending acquisition of watch and jewelry retailer Bucherer could fundamentally change the luxury watch industry, according to industry observers.
There’s concern and speculation throughout the industry regarding how the purchase will alter Bucherer’s relationship with its competitors, how it will affect “grey market” watch sales, and how it will influence Rolex’s relationships with its retailer network in the US, UK, and Europe.
In fact, the impact on Watches of Switzerland (WOS), Bucherer’s biggest competitor, was immediate, with its shares on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) plunging nearly 21% on the day after Rolex’s August 24 announcement.
WOS — which numbers more than 200 retail outlets, including 87 mono-brand boutiques — issued a statement on August 25 to reassure investors. Rolex will not have operational involvement in the Bucherer business, it will elect nonexecutive members to Bucherer’s board, and there will be no change to how Rolex allocates products, the retailer said.
Omega, Rolex’s closest competitor, issued a vaguely worded statement congratulating Rolex and Bucherer on the acquisition, pointing out that Omega generated nearly 40% of its sales from its own global network of stores.
“We do not have many points of sale within Bucherer’s stores, nor do we need many. There are also no current plans to increase that number,” the release read. “Naturally, we make regular adaptions and updates within our distribution network. However, our strategy is completely independent of other watch brands and is solely considered around Omega’s own planning.”
Bucherer operates more than 100 stores in Europe, the UK and the US. A total of 53 Bucherer stores distribute Rolex products and 48 offer the Tudor brand, Rolex’s sister company.
Rolex, in its brief statement about the acquisition, tried to assure the industry there would be no dramatic moves.
“Bucherer will keep its name and continue to independently run its business,” Rolex said. “The group’s management team will remain unchanged. The fruitful collaboration between Rolex and the other official retailers in its sales network will remain unchanged.”
Whether Rolex will manage to limit its influence is questionable, particularly in the long term, according to industry observers.
“Some people have faith the company can put up a firewall,” said Brendan Cunningham, professor of economics at Eastern Connecticut State University and founder of horolonomics.com, a website that specializes in the economics of the watch industry. “I don’t know how they are going to work that out. Over time there will be a temptation to do more through that relationship and leverage it a little more.”
“There is no reason Rolex will not push its watches into all 100 [Bucherer] stores,” added Alexander Linz of WatchAdvisor, a YouTube program about watches and the industry. “It won’t be tomorrow, but it will happen.”
In addition, this acquisition will likely allow Rolex to sell its most sought-after watches exclusively through Bucherer stores, Linz continued.
There’s also a belief that the move will affect online retailers of “grey market” watches — authentic goods that are sold through unauthorized sources — with Rolex having more control over its own distribution. Some authorized Rolex retailers give the most coveted Rolex timepieces to grey-market sellers, where they could get much more than the authorized price. Rolex wants to stop this practice.
“If the distribution process is in-house, they will have more tools to determine where their watches are going and to mete out consequences if people are doing what they are not supposed to be doing,” Cunningham observed. “It’s kind of a tough situation for Rolex because it can either cancel the distribution agreement or deal with the reputational impact when it happens. If something like that happens at Bucherer, you can do your own investigation and get rid of people responsible.”
Another area where the Rolex-Bucherer arrangement could provide leverage over other retailers is through used-watch sales. Bucherer was the first retailer to be approved for the Rolex Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) watch program, in which Rolex provides a certificate of authenticity, a two-year warranty and a wax seal tag for an approved pre-owned Rolex.
“The way it used to work is that Bucherer would send pre-owned watches for a once-over and service,” Cunningham explained. “They would charge Bucherer, and Bucherer would add it to the price. These transaction costs don’t have to happen anymore. That could make the Rolex CPO program at Bucherer a stronger competitor for the secondary market.”
One of the main unanswered questions is how this acquisition will affect the long-term relationships with its authorized dealer network. Rolex retailers include large luxury watch chains like WOS, German-based watch and jewelry retailer Wempe, and US luxury jewelry retailer Ben Bridge. However, the majority of its retail partners are independent retailers, many of whom depend on Rolex for a significant portion of their sales and as a way to attract people into their stores.
“I’m sure the authorized retailers are wondering, ‘What does this mean for us?’ I’m assuming those conversations, if they haven’t started already, are going to start soon,” Cunningham pointed out. “At a minimum, it puts folks on notice to have a ready alternative for distribution and maybe it will get some dealers to tighten up their businesses a little bit. Rolex is important to any retailer that has that dealer agreement. I’m sure having Rolex increases foot traffic.”
