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Digging History

Rare Patek Phillipe watch sells for $31M at auction

By Chris Ciaccia Fox News
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A rare Patek Phillipe watch sold for more than $31 million at auction over the weekend, the highest price for a timepiece ever sold at an auction.

The watch was sold after an intense five-minute bidding war, looked on by Prince Albert II of Monaco at the Only Watch event. Auction house Christie's, which ran the sale for charity to benefit muscular dystrophy, said the Grandmaster Chime reference 6300A-010 was created solely for the event.

"It stands out as the first and only version of this exceptional timepiece ever produced in stainless steel," Christie's said in an email to Fox News. "The shine of this metal, rarely used with a Patek Philippe Grand Complication, is particularly striking when combined with the hand-guilloched hobnail pattern which perpetuates the tradition of rare handcrafts."

(Credit: Christie's)

(Credit: Christie's)

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Christie's continued: "The special words 'The Only One', which appear at 12 o'clock on the auxiliary dial, further enhance the exclusive value of this unique timepiece. Complicated watchmaking is the supreme test of the designer's expertise and watchmakers' skill. Patek Philippe masters all horological complications and has twice this century built the world's most complicated portable timepiece."

The watch had a pre-sale estimate of $2.5 million to $3 million (CHF 2,500,000 - CHF 3,000,000).

Prince Albert II of Monaco said he was proud of the work that Only Watch has done in conjunction with trying to find a cure for muscular dystrophy. "Monaco has been the epicenter of this beautiful initiative, pioneering in innovative ways to fund research and have it move faster, further, in a more collective way too," Prince Albert II of Monaco said in a statement obtained by Fox News.

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"And today, thanks to you, we are on the verge of clinical trials for a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, with researchers working in symbiosis in Monaco, in France, in Switzerland, giving hope to thousands of boys and men around the world. (...) To all supporters of the cause…you have my gratitude," Prince Albert II continued.

The steel Grandmaster Chime surpassed the previous record for a watch sold at auction, a Daytona Rolex once owned by Paul Newman that sold for $17.8 million in 2017, according to Bloomberg.