It is hard to get an overview of what exactly are the most expensive watches in the world. Of course there are the unverified Recommended Retail Prices of relatively unknown brands using sticker shock to get some PR mileage, when often these new watches don’t even sell, or if they do, it’s at a hugely discounted price.

With auction results from the major houses, we have a relatively transparent view of the prices paid, as the figures published are correct and legally binding for both the buyer to the house, and the house to the consignor. In addition, the results can be verified through the network of top end collectors who know each other well in this sector of the market.

While other tables have appeared, many are out of date, and are often benchmarked in USD, whereas CHF is the more appropriate currency given that the majority of the watches were sold in a Geneva auction, and of course were originally made in Switzerland.

Please note that the results are not inflation adjusted so represent absolutely total CHF price inclusive of premium on the day, and those sold outside of Switzerland have had the conversion calculated using the historic rate from the very useful xe.com currency table. Results, where it was difficult to verify if the transaction was completed, have been omitted.

Crunching the numbers pulls out some interesting statistics; excluding watches that have come up twice, 72 watches have sold for in excess of 2M CHF, representing a sum total of 311M CHF. Patek Philippe is the dominant brand making up 82% of the list, and interestingly, yellow gold is the top material at 44%, followed by pink gold, then steel, and platinum. Unsurprisingly the Patek Philippe reference 2499 is the most frequent entry with 15%, with the double crown world time reference 2523 at 8%. Wristwatches account for 78% or results, while pocket watches represent the remaining 22%.

When it comes to the houses, by individual lots, Christie’s comes out first with 39%, then relative newcomer Phillips at 26%, Antiquorum at  18%, Sotheby’s with 11%, and the Only Watch charity auctions with 6%. But working on total values and things balance out a bit: Christie’s come in at 29%, Phillips 26%, Antiquorum 15%, Sotheby’s with 15%, and Only Watch with 15%. By location, Geneva is the clear winner at 76%, with Hong Kong next at 13%, New York at 7%, before Monaco and London round things out.

Watches that have done a lap of honour in returning to the market are: the Graves Super Complication and minute repeating wristwatch, the Daniels Space Traveller II, the Asprey 1st series 2499, the pink fold 2523 with blue Gobbi-signed dial, and the first split-seconds chronograph from Patek which inspired the reference 5959.

Without further ado, please see the complete listing below, and if you have any further observations, do get in touch: contact@blackbird-watchmanual.com.