Watches

Fighting the stereotype 

Rolex 'Pre-Daytona' Ref. 6234

From the classic and hugely desirable late-1960s Rolex Daytona ‘Paul Newman’ (est. 800,000-1.2m HKD) to an unusually shaped Omega Bullhead from 1970 (30,000-50,000 HKD), there is a chronograph for every conceivable situation offered at Phillips’ Hong Kong Watch Auction: Three. You can find our 10 favourites below or, alternatively, browse the entire 320-lot catalogue in the Classic Driver Market. 

10 charming chronographs from Phillips’ Hong Kong sale

For those who like it right

After years working to a brief as a consultant for some of the world’s most significant watch and jewellery brands, the French designer Alexandre Meerson established his own eponymous house in the Surrey hills. “I’m trying to write a new chapter in my family’s long history of design,” Meerson explains to us. “My father was one of the guys who invented the concept of the fashion watch in the 1950s, focusing predominantly on style.” Meerson’s father inspired him to pursue a career in design, and after craving creative freedom for so long, his independent watch brand was born in 2007.

The rare 1943 Patek – one of only four examples of the legendary ref. 1518 produced in stainless steel – was sold for just over 11m CHF including fees after a tense bidding war between no fewer than seven collectors. In doing so, it relieved another steel Patek, the unique ref. 5016 sold last year for 7.3m CHF, of the World Record highest price paid publicly for a wristwatch.