Sotheby’s Tour of Asia Comes to Hong Kong in October

By Dan Ruisi | September 6, 2012

Sotheby’s continues its annual Important Watches auction tour of Asia, with the highlight of the tour coming October 8 in Hong Kong.

The "front" and "rear" of the Sky Moon Tourbillon. — The “front” and “rear” of the Sky Moon Tourbillon.

There, leading the slate of timepieces for sale will be a rare Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon Ref. 5002P. In 2008, Sotheby’s enjoyed a smashing success with the sale of a similar piece for a record-breaking $11 million.

The Sky Moon Tourbillon is Patek Philippe’s most complicated watch to date. Its complexity becomes apparent upon picking it up, when the doubled-sided feat of horological engineering offers a choice between a traditional white dial that consists of a perpetual calendar and time functions – or a cool blue celestial dial on the opposite side that tells the wearer the placement of the stars and moon at any given time.

Additional functions of the piece include measuring the meridian passages of both the moon and the north star Sirius, all engineered to an exacting degree of precision that rivals electronic devices. Add to that the discriminating aesthetics of one of the world’s most acclaimed design houses, and it becomes easy to see why Sotheby’s continues to bet on Patek Philippe.

419 other lots will be on sale at the Hong Kong event, including watchmakers such as Jaeger-LeCoultre, Greubel Forsey and Girard-Perregaux.