A spired to only deliver the best and highest quality of collectable timepieces to our prestigious collectors, this Fall, Sotheby’s Hong Kong is delighted to present before you one of our most important curations in recent years with a total of 266 horological inventions. The offering for this season will include a grand variety of collections from very important modern inventions of independent watchmakers such as F.P. Journe, Laurent Ferrier and Richard Mille alongside extremely significant examples of vintage timepieces from Patek Philippe and Rolex. Personal collections of wristwatches from prominent collectors such as Eric Clapton and Hiroshi Fujiwara will also be featured with museum quality automatons in the form of a Magician Box and a set of Nécessaire.
Truly an astonishing and once-in-a-lifetime curation, highlights will be available for viewing at the Hong Kong Convention Center from October 7-12. Please do not hesitate to contact us for further enquiries.
One of the privileges of being a specialist at Sotheby’s is to handle objects of such beauty, intricacy and importance that they will be remembered as indelible highlights of one’s career. Be it a pair of singing bird pistols from the 19th century, the extraordinary F.P. Journe Souscription Tourbillon or the Patek Philippe reference 2499 cased in pink gold, the common denominator of these amazing pieces is their ability to impress and amaze, through their horological complications, rarity, amazing craftsmanship and the beauty of their designs.
Continuing in our tradition to offer the world’s most memorable creations, Sotheby’s Hong Kong is proud and humbled to offer two extraordinary examples of a Distinguished Collector. Made for the Chinese market, the following two objects embody the auspicious characteristics of this majestic land. In Chinese tradition, these objects exhibit and portray foremost a symbol of royalty, strength and good fortune.
Property from a Distinguished Collector is so named to reflect the noble qualities in the man who had the vision to assemble some of the greatest music with automaton objects ever created.
The following pieces are unique in every way. The Magician’s box is one of five known examples and is the last to exist in private hands. Not only is it the last example, it sits above the other four known examples in terms of the execution, decoration, complex mechanism and overall condition. This Magician’s box was last offered for sale by Sotheby’s in 1964 and has remained in private collection ever since. The necessaire formerly in the collection of John Asprey, is one of only two examples known of this size and it is fresh to the market.
To collectors who think they have mastered and accounted for all the most beautiful, rare and complex masterpieces, will be pleasantly surprised when they get to discover these absolute works of art for themselves.
A man with multiple titles: Founder of creative agency Fragment Design, prolific collaborator of NIKE Inc., the Godfather of Harajku - Japanese multidisciplinary artist and designer Hiroshi Fujiwara has been at the forefront of the global fashion and creative scene over the past decades. As an influential trendsetter, Fujiwara passionately explores different aspects of lifestyle and came to develop a deep appreciation and knowledge in horology. Watches seen on his wrist are often the most prominent and timeless pieces on the market, ranging from vintage classics to state-of-the-art timepieces.
Not only is the present reference 5990 the first example embellished entirely in baguette-cut diamonds to be offered to the market, but also the first watch in major auction accepting cryptocurrency as a payment method. Launched initially in 2014, the 5990 is the most complicated Nautilus ever made by Patek Philippe, incorporating the caliber 28 520 C FUS for the travel time, chronograph and date. From the bezel to the band, the present example is decorated with approximately 50 carats of diamonds and shines brilliantly on the wrist. It embodies the phrase “diamond hands”, used by the community to describe adamant cryptocurrency traders holding on to their high volatility assets. Cryptocurrency and the blockchain technology have inspired countless innovations in the fields of logistics, data managements, privacy, security and of course, NFTs, to name a few. Sotheby’s is proud to accept this currency of the future to be a payment method for this exemplifying and futuristic wristwatch.
