After Graves died in 1953, the watch changed hands several times throughout the years, and was auctioned for the first time by Sotheby’s in 1999, bought for a then-record price of $11,002,500 by Sheikh Saud bin Mohammed Al Thani of the Qatar Royal Family. The array of horological functions built into the unique, gold pocket watch include Westminster chimes, perpetual calendar, sunrise and sunset times, and a celestial map of New York as seen from Graves's Fifth Avenue apartment. In 1933, the timepiece that Graves commissioned from Patek Philippe, aptly named the Henry Graves Supercomplication, earned that distinction with its 24 complications, blowing away the 10 complications of the watch Patek had made for Packard in 1927. Henry Graves, Jr., was a New York banker and avid watch collector who, legend has it, was engaged in a competition with fellow tycoon James Ward Packard (of Packard Motors) to become the owner of the world’s most complicated watch. Patek Philippe Henry Graves Supercomplication Ref. In the tradition of the biennial Only Watch auction, proceeds from the staggering, record-breaking hammer price of $31 million went toward research into a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Among the cornucopia of complications are two patented world-premieres - an acoustic alarm that chimes at a pre-programmed time and a date repeater that can strike the date on demand - along with a Grande and Petite Sonnerie, moon-phases, and a perpetual calendar. The watch is the most complicated Patek Philippe wristwatch ever made (distinguishing it from the maker’s most complicated pocket watch, as detailed below), with 20 complications, displayed on two dials, one ebony black, the other salmon, for each side of the swiveling, reversible case with its elaborate hobnail guilloché-patterned sides. The reference that made history at the Only Watch auction in Geneva in 2019 was a unique piece, the only Grandmaster Chime ever crafted in stainless steel the Grandmaster Chime models in Patek’s regular collection are all made in precious metals. Patek Philippe unveiled the first Grandmaster Chime watch in 2014 as part of the many celebrations around the Genevan maison’s 175the anniversary. At the end, we'll spotlight the highest selling watches from a few other brands that didn't crack the top 25 but maintain a robust presence on the watch auction scene. You'll find the expected abundance of watches from Patek Philippe and Rolex (the clear leaders in the category) but also a few from other watchmakers, large and small, who've recently broken into the upper echelon. Here we run down the list of the top 25 watches in descending order of the price they fetched on the auction block, while spotlighting some of the timepieces with the most fascinating backstories and representing the most impressive technical achievements. How much would you pay for a watch? What if it was the only one of its kind, or a record-breaker in terms of complications, or once owned by someone famous or historically significant? And just how expensive are the most expensive watches to ever change hands in a sale? In today's red-hot watch auction market, the answers, and the sums, may surprise you. 0% interest for up to 24 months available on select brands.
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