The second most expensive watch ever sold at a London auction, and the highest price achieved in the capital for a decade, fetched a groundbreaking £354,585 at Bonham’s’ Sale of Fine Watches and Wristwatches yesterday (Wednesday 24 May). This was the first time the extremely fine and rare Patek Philippe platinum wristwatch Ref.3974, made in 1994, had been offered for sale at auction, and was estimated to fetch £200,000 – 250,000. The successful bid was placed by an anonymous European buyer who sought against strong international bidding to secure the watch.



The Patek Philippe 3974 is an exceptionally rare minute repeating automatic self-winding watch, with a perpetual calendar and moon phase. Very few examples were produced in platinum, which added significantly to this model’s value and interest.



“The incredible result achieved by the sale of this watch sets a benchmark for future prices,” says Paul Maudsley, Head of Watches at Bonhams. “There was fierce competition from the room and on the telephones, with bidders from the UK, USA and Europe all keen to buy it. It is a fine example of a hugely sought-after watch and the price achieved for it demonstrates this.”





200-year old ‘touch’ watch makes £48,000



Also attracting much attention in the saleroom was a very fine and rare Breguet pocket watch, which originally sold in 1804 for 1,600 francs to one M. Hainguerlot, a Paris Banker and General Counselor of the region Indre-et-Loire. It also sold to an anonymous European bidder for £48,000. This 18ct gold watch with chain and key, is made to the ‘montre à tact’ design. This was invented by Abraham Louis Breguet in the 1790s, and its moveable raised arrow and ‘touch’ pieces allows the wearer to determine the time by touch without taking the watch out of the pocket.



Steve Fossett’s record-breaking watch makes £3,840 for charity



The Breitling pilot’s wristwatch that accompanied Steve Fossett on his record-breaking solo flight around the world in February 2006 achieved a price of £3,840.



Shortly before Steve’s departure, Richard Branson announced that he was lending his new Breitling watch to Steve, one of the world’s most renowned adventurers, as he attempted his next world record in the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer. This titanium quartz pilot’s wristwatch timed the incredible flight from the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, to Bournemouth, Kent, UK, which covered 26,389.3 miles in 76 hours, 42 minutes and 55 seconds.



All proceeds from the sale of this watch will be donated to the Virgin Unite campaign ‘Heavens Angels,’ which is raising money in order to establish a motorcycle-based healthcare delivery system in sub-Saharan Africa. TB, Malaria and HIV/ AIDS are rife in this area, and improving access to medicine, advice and preventative materials will make a real difference to those suffering.

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