Audemars Piguet, Rolex and Patek Philippe will star in Phillips' first 'cross-category' auction

While specialist watch auctioneers large and small have shifted exclusively online in order to keep business going during the Covid-19 epidemic, one major player has steered clear of selling its wares in cyberspace - and that's sector leader Phillips Having re-established its watch department in 2015 after mothballing it for more than a decade, Phillips quickly streaked past the opposition and now its regular Geneva, New York and Hong Kong sales often achieve double those of its rivals, with the firm's finest horological hour arriving in 2017 when it hammered down the ex-Paul Newman Rolex Cosmograph for $17.8 million "The possibility of holding online watch sales is something we have been thinking about for years, but when the lockdown was announced in March we were fully underway with preparations for our 210-lot flagship live sale scheduled to take place in Geneva this month," explained Bacs in an exclusive interview with GQco.

"We could have taken those 210 lots and divided them up into several online sales, but we quickly decided not to do that for several reasons."Firstly, a number of lots are valued at north of Sfr1m and, to us, selling those sort of pieces online does not seem appropriate when we have a duty to our clients to get the best possible price "Secondly, vintage watches are not commodities in the way that new watches can be - if someone is considering buying a valuable vintage watch it is understandable that they want to see it in real life before doing so."Additionally, the rules surrounding online sales are not the same in every jurisdiction around the world, something that can cause particular problems with higher value items All 210 lots from the sale are due to go on show in Hong Kong during the week of 20 May, the day bidding opens online for the Refresh:Reload event, which runs until 28 MayRefresh:Reload lots, which can be found at phillipscom, include a 2009 Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Survivor made from titanium and ceramic; a 2012 Kaws x Ikepod Horizon designed by Marc Newson in a collaboration with graffiti artist Kaws; and a 2017 Patek Philippe Aquanaut Reference 5164R in pink gold.

Most will be modern, but there will be a few vintage pieces too - they are all watches for which the internet seems to be an appropriate sale platform," says Bacs."When it comes to holding auctions online, the watch community is getting there, but we are only part way through the journey," he adds. . Source