An anonymous buyer created history by buying a rare Patek Philippe in an online auction for $5.8 million


An ultra-rare Patek Philippe has set a new global record for the most expensive watch auctioned online by selling for $5.8 million at Christie’s Top Of The Time auction in Hong Kong on Monday. The stunning Sky Moon Tourbillon Ref. 6002G-001 is one of the most technically complicated watches ever made by Patek Philippe and it rarely turns up at auctions, making it a truly exceptional collectors’ watch. The model was introduced by Patek Philippe back in 2013 to replace the first Sky Moon Tourbillon model, reference 5002, while this particular example was purchased by the present owner at the Patek Philippe Salon in Geneva in 2015. It features a handcrafted 18-karat white-gold case measuring 44mm along with a striking blue champlevé and cloisonné enamel dial.


The exceptionally sculptural timepiece features 12 complications and two dials. It gets a cathedral minute repeater, tourbillon, perpetual calendar, retrograde date, moon phases, leap year indication, sidereal time, sky chart, phases, and orbit of the moon. The caliber is a piece of horological art. It is made of 686 components and measures just 12.6mm thick.

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The white-gold case is entirely hand-chased and engraved with almost three-dimensional elegant scrolls which took Patek Philippe’s master craftsmen over 100 hours to achieve. By fetching $5.8 million, the rare Patek Philippe accounted for more than half of the auctioneer’s final sales total of $8.4 million. Other notable watches auctioned at the event include a Patek Philippe Grand Complications Ref. 5208 that was sold for $999,541 and a skeletonized Gerald Genta perpetual calendar that fetched $104,791.