The most expensive pocket watch sold at auction is the Henry Graves Jr Supercomplication, a gold, double-dialled watch crafted by hand between 1925 and 1932 by Patek Philippe of Switzerland. On 11 November 2014, the watch was sold for 23,237,000 Swiss Francs (£15,154,312; $24,073,532) at Sotheby’s in Geneva, Switzerland.
The watch measures 74 mm (2.91 in) in diameter (the same width as a typical smartphone) and is 37 mm (1.45 in) thick, including the domed glass covers on the front and rear faces. Despite its relatively compact size, it weighs 536 grams (1 lb 2.9 oz), which gives an idea of how densely packed the internal mechanisms are. It was sold in its original tulipwood box, inlaid with a mother-of-pearl panel featuring the arms of Henry Graves Jr (1868–1953) – the American banker who commissioned the piece in 1925.
The name of the piece is a reference to Graves’ desire to have the most “complicated” watch in the world. (In horogical terminology, a “complication” is any feature that a mechanical timepiece can perform in addition to telling the time. Common complications include calendars, phase-of-the-moon displays and stopwatch functions.)
The Supercomplication required three years of study in astronomy, mathematics and precision mechanics before a viable design could be finalized. The enormously elaborate mechanism uses 900 individual parts including 430 screws, 110 wheels, 120 various movable parts and 70 jeweled bearings. It took the artisans at Patek-Phillippe – assisted by several other prominent Swiss watchmakers acting as sub-contractors – more than five years to assemble the watch, finally delivering it to Graves on 19 Jan 1933.
The 24 “complications” of the watch include a star chart (calibrated to show the night sky over Graves’ Manhattan apartment on any given night) and a multi-year calendar that will be accurate until the year 2100, as well as various alarm and stopwatch functions. This number of complications remained unbeaten until 1989, when Patek-Philippe released the 33-complication “Calibre 89”. It remains, however, the most complicated watch to have been made without the assistance of computers.
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History of Auctioneering
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An automatic flowering rosebush made for illusionist/escapologist Harry Houdini (USA, b. Hungary) sold for $324,000 (£279,970) at auctioneers Potter & Potter in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on 29 October 2022. This was nearly 13 times its estimated price. An intricate mechanical marvel, the rosebush was one of several complex tricks created for what turned out to be Houdini’s final American tour in 1926.
In performance, Houdini placed a pot on top of a metal table, planted a small red flower in it, and covered the pot with a cloth. On his command, the flower miraculously appeared to grow and flourish, developing into a bush, which Houdini then removed from the table and presented to the spectators. The trick was created for the master magician by New York craftsman R S Schlosser, possibly in collaboration with others.
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The most expensive artwork by a living artist sold at auction is Jeff Koons’ “Rabbit”, which sold for $91,075,000 (£70,408,300; €81,145,400), including buyer’s premium, and was sold by Christie’s in New York, USA, on 15 May 2019.
Created in 1986, it is one of the most iconic pieces ever created by Jeff Koons. One of three, it is the last remaining sculpture in the series to be in a private collection. The other two are located in The Broad Art Foundation in Los Angeles, USA and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, USA.
According to reports, the Art dealer Robert Mnuchin, made the final bid for a client. This isn’t the first time one of Jeff Koons’ sculptures has held the record. In 2013, Jeff Koons’ “Balloon Dog (Orange)” – a 12-foot-high, orange-tinted, stainless steel sculpture resembling a dog made from balloons – was sold at Christie’s for $58.4 million (£36.49 million).
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The most expensive sculpture by a living artist sold at auction is Jeff Koons’ “Rabbit”, which sold for $91,075,000 (£70,408,300; €81,145,400), including buyer’s premium, and was sold by Christie’s in New York, USA, on 15 May 2019.
Created in 1986, it is one of the most iconic pieces ever created by Jeff Koons. One of three, it is the last remaining sculpture in the series to be in a private collection. The other two are located in The Broad Art Foundation in Los Angeles, USA and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, USA.
According to reports, the Art dealer Robert Mnuchin, made the final bid for a client. This isn’t the first time one of Jeff Koons’ sculptures has held the record. In 2013, Jeff Koons’ “Balloon Dog (Orange)” – a 12-foot-high, orange-tinted, stainless steel sculpture resembling a dog made from balloons – was sold at Christie’s for $58.4 million (£36.49 million).
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The Ohio Auctioneers Association is a non-profit organization, founded in 1942. Since that time, it has continued to grow in strength and fellowship and is an association committed to improving and promoting higher standards in the auction profession.
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The most valuable Christmas card in the world was sold at auction in Devizes, Wiltshire, UK on 24 November 2001 for £20,000 ($28,158) and bought by an anonymous bidder. Measuring 13 x 8 cm (5 x 3 in) it was sent by Sir Henry Cole, a Bath-born businessman to his grandmother in 1843 and is hand-coloured by the London illustrator John Calcott Horsley.
The Christmas card is also considered the world’s first Christmas card. A total 1,000 were lithographed and sold at a shilling each. The card shows a Christmas dinner with three generations of a family enjoying a Christmas party. The side panels show charitable scenes with people clothing and feeding the poor. There are only 12 of the original 1,000 cards still in existance. At one shilling each, an average man’s weekly wage, they were only bought by the wealthier classes.
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A pair of flesh coloured foam and cotton bra pads once belonging to Marilyn Monroe, sold at auction for $5,000 (£;3,149) in Bedford, New Hampshire, USA on 15 April 2000.
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An original pair of Levi Strauss & Co (USA) 501 jeans aged over 115 years old were sold by Randy Knight (USA) to an anonymous collector (Japan) for $60,000,00 (£33,230) through internet auction site eBay on 15 June 2005. There are said to be only two or three complete pairs of authentic pre-1900 Levi’s 501 jeans in existence and these are the first pair found that is still wearable. This particular pair of jeans was found by four friends in an abandoned-silver mine in the Mojave Desert, California, USA in 1998. They feature the distinctive Levi’s Arcuate stitching on the back of one pocket, the two horse leather patch (still intact), a watch pocket, a button fly and copper rivets. When found, the jeans had never been washed and it is thought that the slurry and mud from the mine helped with their preservation. They have since been washed and wrapped in unbleached muslin material to store them.
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The record for the most expensive jigsaw puzzle sold for a charitable art auction to benefit a non-profit organization The Golden Retriever Foundation at a bid of $27.000 (£14.589). The hand-crafted wooden jigsaw puzzle was custom made by Rachel Page Elliott (USA). The charity event was held at the Eisenhower Conference Centre, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA on 28 September 2005. At the time, Rachel Page Elliot was 92 years old. She has lectured around the world, and just updated her world-renown book and video on canine anatomical structure and movement. In puzzle circles, she has received national awards from her fellow puzzlers and is renowned for her detailed craftsmanship. The puzzle consist of 467 interlocking pieces, many cut in her unique designs of birds, cats, horses, and, of course, Golden Retrievers in various poses. It features a signed print entitled “The Outing” depicting a Golden Retriever female and five puppies playing in the grass. (A photo is available upon request).
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On 13 December 2007, one of seven limited-edition handwritten copies of a manuscript entitled The Tales of Beedle the Bard, by Harry Potter author J K Rowling (UK), sold for £1.95 million ($3.97 million; including buyer’s premium) at Sotheby’s auction house in London, UK. The book was purchased by online retailer Amazon.com, Inc. (USA).
The lot was originally predicted to make in the region of £30,000 to 50,000 ($60,000 to $100,000).
The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a collection of children’s stories which is referenced in the final book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows.
The limited-edition books, about 160 pages long, were bound in brown moroccan leather with silver decoration and moonstones mounted on the covers.
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