Long before the watch world discovered the virtues of virtual tools, record-breaking sales were actual spectacles of reverential rarities going under the hammer. Overseen by a handful of specialists, auction houses in the early ’90s mostly offered complicated pocket watches from Patek Philippe, Breguet and Vacheron Constantin. The Rolex mania hadn’t hit the world just yet, and the vintage market was predominantly fuelled by the desire for 19th century enamelled watches and automatons from the 1800s.
Besides the rich, jet-setting Italians who had exceptional tastes and an unmatched appetite for rare collectibles, the market for vintage wristwatches in the late 1990s got a real boost with the introduction of Antiquorum’s themed auctions and its brilliantly illustrated catalogues. Founded and ran by the suave Osvaldo Patrizzi, Antiquorum’s unique sales would often unfold like a nerve-wracking thriller, with billionaires pitching aggressively for unicorns and rare birds.
One of Patrizzi’s most memorable shows was The Art of Patek Philippe, a mono-thematic auction that marked the brand’s 150th anniversary in 1989 with a specially curated selection of 301 watches that fetched over USD 15 million. However, the watch that actually put Antiquorum and Patrizzi on the map was the unique Patek Philippe platinum ref. 1415 HU, which was sold for a record-breaking CHF 6.6 million in 2002.
A legendary unicorn, the platinum ref. 1415 HU showed up in the market again this year as part of Christie’s , an auction of some of the most remarkable timepieces from the 19th and 20th centuries. Estimated to, a website that guides watch collectors on vintage Pateks.
