Auction record smashed by Richard Mille at Christie’s

Richard Mille beat a world auction record at Christie’s Legendary and Unique Watches.

The live event held in Geneva last weekend, was an incredible sale in which none of the lots had ever been sold at auction before, fetching an amazing £28.5 million.

With Girard-Perregaux, A.Lange and Sohne as well as IWC watches up for grabs, the auction was the place to be for any collector.

But which watch sold for what? Find out here!

Richard Mille 

There were 17 incredible pieces by Richard Mille that went under the gavel – nine of which sold for more than £880,000.

But the watch that had the bidders going wild was a limited edition, reference RM56-01 which went for a jaw-dropping £3.3 million.

With a sapphire and titanium case, skeletonised tourbillon escapement.and torque indicator, it’s quite a special offering!

The concept of the RM56-01 is about maximum transparency which is fulfilled by the three component parts of the case, crafted from single blocks of transparent sapphire crystal.

F.P.Journe 

The second highest sale was for a one-off Grand et Petite Sonnerie, with a mirror-polished petrol blue dial and the FIA 7th Constructors’ Formula One World Champions logo, which went for £2.7 million.

This particular model was created as a bespoke piece for its last owner, and with its minute repeater is one of the most significant watches of the entire Sonnerie Souveraine production.

The genius of the Sonnerie Souveraine is its practical functionality. François-Paul Journe – who said the watch “has no equal” – chose a stainless steel case for this model because of its better acoustic properties which demonstrates he places technical excellence and perfection of function first.

The brand also claimed the third highest lot for its Centigraphe Ferrari for £1.8 million.

This piece was made for the man who inspired the conception of this model – Jean Todt. With stunning beauty, the Ferrari dial is a one-off with the badge featured at 12 o’clock with his initials colour-matched to the correct Ferrari red sent by Todt to François-Paul Journe, allowing him to make the most authentic shade.

This watch was numbered one of three, with the second piece created specially for F1 driver Michael Schumacher and the third for François-Paul Journe himself.

Others under the hammer

Other stunning watches that sold included a unique 18k Richard Mille white gold skeletonised tourbillon watch made to commemorate the 150th anniversary or boucheron. It fetched £4 million.

The no. 3 prototype RM009 Felipe Massa Tourbillon ‘ALUSiC’ is one of the most exciting and significant Richard Mille watches to ever be offered at auction and unsurprisingly sold for £1.3 million.

A 18k gold Cosmograph Rolex Daytona reference 6241 with ‘Champagne Paul Newman’ exotic dial, which was only produced for around only 3 years between 1966 and 1969 – a rare reference – sold for £957,000.

Miss out on your dream watch? Did you know we have a watch-sourcing service with buying teams around Europe? Contact us today on 020 3666 1307 for assistance.