⏱ 2 min read
Updated on 9 November 2026 : the Phillips sale totalled CHF 92 million ($112.3 million), including fees, for 217 lots sold. According to Phillips, it is the first live watch auction to exceed $100 million; the Patek Philippe 1436 reached CHF 6.27 million.
Background
Every autumn, Geneva hosts the major auctions of collectible watches. These sales set benchmarks for market prices. This week, the Tribune de Genève lists four: Phillips with Bacs & Russo, Antiquorum, Sotheby’s and Christie’s. Bonhams is also holding an exhibition there.
The key points
Auction house Phillips opened its 24th watch sale, “The Geneva Watch Auction: XXIV”, in Geneva on Saturday 7 November. Organised with Bacs & Russo, it comprises 221 lots, split into two sessions at the Hotel President on Quai Wilson. The second session takes place on Sunday 8 November at 2 pm.
The top lot is a Patek Philippe reference 1436 in steel, made in 1945. According to Phillips, this model, launched in 1938, is the brand’s first serially produced split-seconds chronograph. About 140 pieces are believed to have been made. Only two known examples are said to have kept both their steel case and original dial.
The catalogue also includes a Cartier “Portico No. 4”, two F.P. Journe watches and two rare Rolex. For the F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance “Régence”, Luxe.net notes two different estimates depending on the Phillips documents.
Key figures
- CHF 92 million ($112.3 million): total of the sale on 7 and 8 November 2026, including fees
- CHF 6.27 million : price of the Patek Philippe 1436, estimated at CHF 2 to 4 million (finews)
- CHF 8.68 million : F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance “Régence”, the most expensive lot
- CHF 31.8 million : total for the 13 F.P. Journe watches, more than a third of the result
- CHF 4.815 million : Cartier “Portico No. 4”, a world auction record for a timepiece by the house
- 1.8 to 3.2 million francs: estimate for the Cartier “Portico No. 4”
- 800,000 to 1.6 million francs: Rolex Daytona “John Player Special” from around 1969
- 221 : lots on sale
- 27 % : buyer’s premium up to 1.6 million francs, on top of the price
Analysis
- According to Luxe.net, the presence of F.P. Journe and Cartier at the top of the catalogue shows that the high end of the market no longer rests only on Patek Philippe and Rolex.
- The same site stresses that this is a hypothesis, to be checked against the results of the sale.
What's next
- Second Phillips session (lots 108 to 221) on 8 November at 2 pm.
- Sotheby’s watch sale on 8 and 9 November, then Christie’s on 9 November, according to Luxe.net.
Further reading
Sources
- finews – Geneva watch auction reaches a new dimension
- Luxury Tribune – All-time record for Phillips auctions with more than $100 million in sales
- Luxe.net – Phillips Geneva Watch Auction XXIV: a steel Patek 1436 at CHF 4 million
- Tribune de Genève – Geneva: four watch auctions this week
Let’s share Romandy’s news
We build the news together.
An idea, an opinion, a wish, a detail to add? Tell us!
