Admirers of horology and jewellery to bid for watches that are rare in make

The selection includes a watchmaker's personal watch - Patek Philippe co-founder Jean-Adrien Philippe's piece featuring the company's signature and independent seconds movement

Pop art luminary Andy Warhol never wound his favourite watch because he did not wear it to tell the time but “because it is the watch to wear”. As such, the luxury timepieces the American artist so ardently collected may be seen as an extension of his aesthetics. One of these pieces, a stainless steel Rolex featuring a pink gold stripe and a dial that embodies the 1940s, is expected to fetch upwards of 200,000 Swiss francs ($199,200) next month when it will be auctioned in Geneva by Christie’s.

 More than 250 lots will be up for sale in the city that has a rich tradition of crafting timepieces. The auctioneer describes each item as “extremely rare” and “highly important” if not “highly attractive”. The world’s super-rich and watch enthusiasts have been fighting ravenously for rare watches — seen as both functional and collectible — in sales by Antiquorum, Christie’s and Sotheby’s every May and November in cities including Dubai, Hong Kong and New York. As a standalone sale category, these have not yet started ticking in India, where the market has recently grown to new auctions such as of pashminas, vintage cars and rare books.

Chronograph watches, or stopwatches, being a special draw for collectors, a bespoke gold one by Vacheron Constantin is estimated to generate a buzz-worthy price of at least 200,000 Swiss francs. Made to order in 1956, it is a five-minute repeating watch — it strikes in high and low tones to indicate the hours and the number of five-minute periods past the hour — and has a single-button chronograph. This also indicates the high expectations clients had of watchmakers, and the lengths to which the latter went to please buyers. Also part of the sale is another Rolex, a 1963 release made for the Peruvian air force with a riveted stainless steel bracelet.

The pocket watches in the selection include a watchmaker’s personal watch — Patek Philippe co-founder Jean-Adrien Philippe’s piece featuring the company’s signature and independent seconds movement, patented and manufacture in 1889. The Genevan watch has an enamel dial with Roman numerals. Another pocket watch by the same firm had been presented to Pope Pius IX by the Swiss Catholics on the occasion of his episcopal golden jubilee in 1877, and so the Pope’s coat of arms is engraved on its silver body.

A vintage Patek Philippe watch from 1977 (reference 2499), with a perpetual calendar mechanism, is estimated to be among the highest earners, likely to bring in some 500,000 Swiss francs ($498,000). It is notable for featuring in the company’s collection for 35 long years, during which only 349 pieces were made, that is about 10 watches each year. Aside from antique watches are a few modern examples sourced from private collections, among them a piece styled from titanium by Swiss luxury watch brand Richard Mille named after football manager Roberto Mancini, and a carbon-based watch named Rafael Nadal.