Patek Philippe "Henry Graves Supercomplication" - most expensive watch ever auctioned

A Patek Philippe pocket watch changed hands at an auction in Geneva for the record sum of $21.3 million (€17.1 million). Thus, the "" defended its status as the most expensive watch ever auctioned, according to auction house Sotheby's. There are even more expensive Luxury watches as the Swiss masterpiece.

In addition to the fees, the anonymous buyer has to pay 24 million dollars (around 19.2 million euros) for the 536 gram Unique The watch had already achieved a record price at auction in 1999, when the buyer was awarded the hammer price of eleven million dollars (8.8 million euros).

The gold watch was estimated at $15 million before the auction. However, the price was driven up during the subsequent bidding war on Tuesday. Sotheby's watch expert Tim Bourne described the pocket watch as an "icon of the 20th century, a masterpiece that Watchmaking to the level of art." The "Henry Graves Supercomplication" is considered the most elaborate hand-crafted watch in the world. >>

It is named after its client, New York banker Henry Graves (1868-1953). The American ordered the watch from the Swiss watch manufacturer Patek Philippe in 1925.

24 Complications

The elaborately crafted watch consists of 900 individual parts. Its 24 additional functions, also known as complications, make it so valuable. These include a perpetual calendar. It also displays the phases of the moon and sidereal time, and also shows the times of sunrise and sunset.

Given the many features, it is not surprising that Graves Clock I was only able to receive it after years of waiting. Before actual production, there were three years of research. And after that, it would take another five years to build the actual watch.

And so Patek Phillipe did not hand over the masterpiece to Henry Graves until January 19, 1933.