An extremely valuable Patek Philippe watch, previously owned by Aisin-Gioro Puyi, the final emperor of China’s Qing Dynasty, has fetched an astounding HK$49 million ($6.2 million) at a recent auction in Hong Kong.
The timepiece, known as the Patek Philippe reference 96 Quantiem, is one out of eight watches in Puyi’s collection referred to as his “Runes.” The auction, which witnessed an Asian collector residing in Hong Kong successfully bidding for the iconic timepiece over the phone, surpassed all expectations.
The hammer price for the watch, excluding the buyer’s premium fee, reached HK$40 million ($5.1 million). Thomas Perazzi, the head of watchmaking at auctioneer Philips Asia, had tagged this achievement as “the best result” ever recorded, for a wristwatch once owned by an emperor.
The Patek Philippe watch holds historical significance, as it was given to Puyi during his imprisonment in the Soviet Union, where he served as a Russian translator.
This remarkable sale greatly exceeded the pre-sale estimate of $3 million, firmly establishing the Patek Philippe timepiece as a highly coveted collector’s item. It joins the ranks of other notable watches owned by emperors, such as the Patek Philippe watch that once belonged to Haile Selassie, the final emperor of Ethiopia, which sold for $2.9 million at an auction in 2017.
