This $3.9 Million Patek Philippe Just Became Sotheby's Most Expensive Watch of 2018

There are six weeks left in the year, but Patek Philippe just made a record for Sotheby's in 2018 The vintage piece beat Christie's hammer price for another co-branded Patek Philippe reference 2499, the "Serpico y Laino," which sold yesterday for $3.2 million What makes this 37mm object for the wrist worth $39 million? For starters, in watch collecting circles, the reference 2499 is considered a holy grail timepiece-a Patek Philippe model essential to top-tier collectors.

Manufactured in 1952 and sold in 1956 by Asprey of London, was the most complicated Patek Philippe ever sold by the London jeweler The watch is a first series and houses a dial signed by both the Patek Philippe manufacture and Asprey, as well as a caseback engraved with Asprey's hallmark, Patek Philippe, and London import marks Still, Sotheby's bested the rest at the Geneva watch auction sales this month with its $39 million Patek Philippe "Asprey," proving that provenance and history remain key for big sales.

The auction house also had its second-highest total for a watch sale in a decade, raking in a total of CHF 2.2 million or $12.1 million. . Source