Antiquorum Auctioneers

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Antiquorum Auctioneers, based in Geneva, Switzerland and founded in 1970 as Galerie d'Horlogerie Ancienne, established the modern auction market for watches. Antiquorum is the world’s leading auction house specializing in the field of horology. Antiquorum was able to authenticate watches on their intricate and almost impossible to fake movements, rather than the readily altered external appearances of cases and faces. Antiquorum was the first auction firm to auction fine watches over the Internet in the 1980s [1].

Antiquorum has carved its own unparalleled niche in the auction world by cultivating a thriving collector’s market for timepieces worldwide. Established in Geneva in 1974 with the addition of its New York affiliate Antiquorum USA in 1994, Antiquorum has continually realized the most impressive world records for sales of watches, wristwatches, clocks, marine chronometers, and regulators at auction.

By promoting the passion for timepiece collecting, Antiquorum continuously demonstrates an incomparable ability to obtain the highest prices for wristwatches at auction. Of the 62 watches ever sold publicly by major auction houses above SFr. 1,000,000, Antiquorum claims an impressive 44. In 2002, Antiquorum established the all-time world record price for a wristwatch at auction when it sold a probably unique platinum Patek Philippe World Time Ref. 1415 from 1939 for an astounding US$ 4,026,524 (SFr. 6,603,500).

This record-breaking price more than doubled the previous world record price for a wristwatch at auction. Another record price for a modern watch was achieved in 2004 at the 30th anniversary April auction in Geneva; the unique white gold Calibre 89, by Patek Philippe, Genève (the most complicated watch in the world) was sold for US$ 5,002,652 (SFr. 6,603,500).

Antiquorum owns the Internet horology information and discussion site TimeZone.com.

[edit] Thematic Auctions

Antiquorum is one of the most innovative auction houses in the world, as seen in its continuing efforts to develop new ways to arouse the interest of collectors. In the early 1980s, Antiquorum pioneered the presentation of wristwatches at auction, and it launched the thematic auction, a sale devoted to a single subject. The first thematic sale to hit the auction block was held in 1989, The Art of Patek Philippe, during the 150th anniversary year of this prestigious watchmaking firm. Antiquorum continues to offer thematic sales annually, providing collectors with the ideal occasion to complete their collections and, by means of Antiquorum’s specialized catalogues, acquire invaluable reference material on a specific subject.

In 2005, history was made as the thematic auction "The Quarter Millennium of Vacheron Constantin" attained a total of US$ 15,110,000 (SFr. 18,123,069), making it a record for Vacheron Constantin and the second best auction result, after Patek Philippe, for a sale dedicated to one brand. Added to which several world records for Vacheron Constantin pieces were made such as the “Tour de l’Ile” that sold for US$ 1,564,000 (SFr. 1,876,250) making it a world record for a contemporary wristwatch and the “King Fouad I” that achieved a record US$ 2,755,000 (SFr. 3,306,250), the highest price ever paid for a Vacheron Constantin watch. In 2006, the Mondani Collection of 309 Rolex Wristwatches achieved the astounding total of SFr. 11,037,278. Several world records were set, most significantly by Ref. 4113, the "Chronographe Rattrapante" that sold for SFr. 738,500; the highest price ever achieved by a Rolex watch.

In April 2007, the Omegamania auction of important Omega Collectors’ Timepieces, attained SFr. 6,536,911(US$ 5'540'000) three times the estimate and set numerous world records such as the highest price ever paid for an Omega watch at auction for the “Platinum Constellation Grand Luxe” from 1958 which sold for SFr. 413’700 (US$ 351,000).

Most recently, in April 2008, celebrated the 100th anniversary of Rolex with a thematic auction entitled "Revolution: Evolution of the Rolex Sport Watch".