In the early 90s, watches at auction could
only be found among the general objects to
come under the hammer at non-specialist
sales. We take a look back in time.
The age of the visionaries
Auctions dedicated exclusively to horology were once specialist
rivulets supplying, alternately, the ever-widening
stream of dealers and, albeit less frequently, the three main
general auction houses present in Geneva.
A handful of personalities with a nose for the business, genuine
watchmaking enthusiasts and legend builders, came to
the fore immediately prior to this period. Osvaldo Patrizzi was
one such figure. In 1974, he had already founded the “Galerie
d’Horlogerie Ancienne”, an auction house for “wristwatches,
clocks and other objets de vertu”, which became Antiquorum
SA in 1987. He also subsequently took advantage of the demise
of Habsburg Feldman, whose last auction in Hong Kong was
back in 1990.
The other leading figure was Dr. Helmut
Crott, an expert collector somewhat eclipsed
by the much-hyped Osvaldo Patrizzi. He is
nevertheless one of the visionaries to whom
the industry owes so much today. Originally
the founder of Dr. Crott Auctioneers in 1974,
he embodies a German tradition, which, at
the time, was just as, if not more, important
than that of Geneva. He still owns what purists consider to be
the largest Patek Philippe database for old watches. A reliable
tool, which continues to be regularly updated and consulted
to this day, listing all the product references with their sales
scores and which is based on a system that relies on traceability
and exhaustive documentation. The information contained
therein proves just how independent of stock market
developments these pieces have been in terms of investment
and legacy value over the last 25 to 30 years.
Still active in the industry and highly respected among an entire
breed of collectors impervious to passing crazes and trends, the pioneer Helmut Crott remembers how Patek Philippe already
dominated the field back in the day. The remainder of
the offering comprised complicated pocket watches produced
by home-grown (Swiss) and foreign brands, including those
made by Abraham-Louis Breguet in the 1800s, steel Rolex
Sport watches, such as the Stelline Moon ref. 6062, the Jean-
Claude Killy or Paul Newman Daytona chronograph watches,
Vacheron Constantin’s pocket or wristwatches, and the old A.
Lange & Söhne models from Glashütte.
In addition to these figurehead models, one could also find
enamelled pieces made in Geneva in the first half of the 19th
century and Swiss automaton models dating from around
the 1800s, stellar mechanical works of art,
which fetched over 2 M CHF. On the other
hand, wristwatches made by brands less in
demand, often chronographs, commanded
derisory prices. Thus, brands such as
Omega, Eberhard & Co, Heuer or Longines
were far more affordable compared to
Patek Philippe.
Suddenly, based on an
idea of Osvaldo Patrizzi,
the concept of the
themed auction revolutionised
the industry.
The turning point of 1989,
the birth of themed auctions
Suddenly, based on an idea of Osvaldo Patrizzi, the concept
of themed auctions revolutionised the industry. “Today, they
are milestones in watchmaking history”, Dr. Helmut Crott
confides. He may well have been inspired by Sotheby’s famous
sale of a watch collection in the United States in 1986
belonging to Seth Atwood, the American industrialist, who
sold off his Time Museum in Rockford, Illinois. Be that as it may, he made the year 1989, coincidentally the date of Patek
Philippe’s 150th anniversary, a turning point. Osvaldo Patrizzi
had, in fact, held the very first auction exclusively dedicated
to the legendary maison’s timepieces. Head honcho organiser
and expert hammer-wielder with a firm grip on the finer
points of interpersonal and communication
skills, the exuberant entrepreneur auctioneer
managed to gather a sufficient number
of sought-after pieces to turn the event into
an overwhelming success with the public.
This brief overview helps give an idea of
the watch offering in the late 80s and of the
trends that would emerge. It was the end of
a decade, which, after the fatal quartz crisis,
contributed in its own way to the rebirth of
the mechanical watchmaking industry.
Lot no. 34 was a PPC 2499/100 in platinum,
where C stood for & Cie, since the company
still carried the name Patek Philippe & Cie.
The price achieved for this unique timepiece
under the hammer was CHF 380,000. Lot no.
297 was a rectangular minute repeater, the only piece attributed
to Mel Blanc (1908-1989), the Californian actor dubbed
“the man of a thousand voices” for his mastery of the cartoon
voice, which went for just over half a million at CHF 520,000.
Lot no.229, a rectangular Patek Philippe timepiece with tourbillon,
topped all sales at CHF 650,000.
As Dr. Helmut Crott himself proclaimed in response to this
remarkable result: “At that time, as in previous years, it was
the pocket watch, not the wristwatch, that was putting up
the best sales performance.” Thus the grand complication
dubbed as Lot no. 300 and Calibre 89 achieved a record CHF
850,000 and CHF 4.5 million, respectively, at auction.
1989 was also the inaugural year of the Patek Philippe
Museum, at 7, Rue des Vieux-Grenadiers, Geneva. The wealthy
Italians who were contributing largely to the surge in horology-
specific auction sales were then joined by a newcomer, followed
by aficionados from all over the world: none other than the owner of the brand, Philippe Stern, ever
keen to add to his watchmaking and enamel
collections, and build upon his prestigious
library. His thirst for acquiring historical
pieces of his own, as well as Swiss watchmaking
items in general, only served to boost
sales and excite interest.
To sum up, 1989 saw the breakthrough of
vintage wristwatches onto a market hitherto
dominated by pocket watches and automata.
It also marked the point at which
watchmaking pieces acquired a division of
their own in the auction sector, a fact that
the grand old institutions of watchmaking
had to learn to live with. It was therefore at
this moment that a genuine division was born and the sound
of the gavel reverberated for the first time at exclusive watchmaking
sales. Since then, in collectors’ circles, the collector’s
watch has had a special place, of the kind hitherto reserved
only for paintings and sculptures. The new business area has
continued to gather momentum to this day, save only for
a sharp downturn at the end of the Gulf War in 1992. “Even
Patek Philippe pieces were victims of the crisis and falling
prices,” Dr. Helmut Crott remembers.
First off are the themed auction dates arranged by Osvaldo
Patrizzi. Patrizzi organised several events under the banner
of Antiquorum, whose cultural staging approach and impressive
catalogues helped bring together the world of vintage
watches with that of art in the form of painting, sculpture
and legendary objets d’art: “L’Art de Breguet” in 1991,
“L’Art de l’Horlogerie Française” in 1993, “L’Art de Vacheron
Constantin” in 1994, “L’Art de l’Horlogerie Anglaise” in 1995,
and “L’Art de Cartier” in 1996.
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