Phillips Watches
The most influential watch auction house since the early 2010s. Geneva-headquartered department of Phillips, the global auction firm. Sets price records for vintage Rolex, Patek Philippe, and modern independent watchmakers.
Phillips Watches is the watch department of Phillips, the global auction firm. Headquartered in Geneva and led for the past decade by Aurel Bacs and Alexandre Ghotbi, Phillips has become the most influential watch auction house in the world since the early 2010s — frequently setting price records for vintage Rolex, Patek Philippe, and modern independent watchmakers.
Why Phillips matters
Three structural advantages over the older auction houses:
- Watch-first specialisation. Phillips Watches operates with full editorial focus rather than as one department among many. Catalogues are deeply researched; lot essays often run to multiple pages with archival photos and provenance investigation.
- Aurel Bacs reputation. Bacs, formerly of Christie's, built a personal brand around vintage Rolex authentication. Major-consignment owners increasingly choose Phillips because of him.
- Modern independents. Phillips has actively cultivated FP Journe, MB&F, De Bethune, H. Moser, Greubel Forsey, and similar independent-makers' secondary market, making it the place to buy or sell these references.
Major Phillips Watches sales
The Geneva Watch Auction (May and November) is the flagship sale. Additional sales:
- Hong Kong Watch Auction (May and November) — primarily Asian-collector orientation.
- New York Watch Auction (June and December) — North America.
- Themed sales like "Daytona Ultimatum" (2018, all Daytona), "Start-Stop-Reset" (chronographs), "Game Changers" (genre-defining references).
Notable Phillips results
- Paul Newman's Daytona reference 6239 sold for $17.75 million in 2017 — the most expensive wristwatch at the time.
- Patek Philippe Henry Graves Supercomplication sold for $24 million in 2014 (still a pocket-watch but Phillips-handled).
- Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711/1A "Tiffany" sold for $6.5 million in 2021.
- Many vintage Rolex Daytona, Submariner, and GMT-Master sales set per-reference records year after year.
Phillips and the broader market
Phillips results functionally set the upper anchor of secondary-market prices. A Phillips sale at €500,000 for a vintage Submariner ripples through dealer pricing within days; comparable single-watch sales adjust upward.
For dealers, Phillips is the place to:
- Consign rare or vintage pieces that need the highest-paying buyer pool. The buyer's premium is 27 percent for sold-via-Phillips lots; seller commission is typically 5 to 12 percent depending on lot value.
- Acquire pieces with documented Phillips provenance that justify downstream resale premium.
- Read market direction. Phillips estimates and results are a leading indicator for what hot references will do over the next 3 to 6 months.
Related: auction-house, christies-watches, sothebys-watches, secondary-market.