Unique Panerai Radiomir Guido Panerai & Figlio watch sold for 355,600 Swiss francs at auction

The Geneva Watch Auction XVIII, organized by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo on 3 and 4 November, raised 39 million Swiss francs. Nearly 650 collectors were present in the room, and more than 1'500 bidders were online to bid for some of the 183 watches on offer. Among the stars of the sale was the Patek Philippe Ref. 3700/1 in platinum, which sold for 2.5 million francs, alongside the Rolex Ref. 6062 in steel, which sold for 2.1 million francs.

Another timepiece caught the eye of a great many collectors. Designed to strike a blow with fans of the Panerai brand and capture the interest of collectors unaccustomed to bidding on the legendary Italian house, the unique Panerai Radiomir Guido Panerai & Figlio watch has been carefully crafted to embody a new stage in the enhancement of Panerai's heritage. Neither a vintage watch nor a contemporary timepiece, it is the result of a sum of ideas and crazy bets that Jean-Marc Pontroué, CEO of Panerai, and Aurel Bacs, senior consultant and auctioneer with Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo, have dreamed up. "This is a major first for the Panerai brand, as is our interest in and commitment to the world of auctions, which we have never looked at closely until now," explains Jean-Marc Pontroué, whom we met just before the sale. The idea was to make it a unique, rare, spectacular watch that could shine a bright light on the historic Radiomir collection, first created in 1935. The project began in the aftermath of the pandemic. Two years of intense exchanges with Aurel Bacs to build the best watch that could contain both the historic design codes, a rare vintage Angelus movement from the house, while being fashioned with the standards of 2023."

A rare approach, according to Aurel Bacs, who was "particularly impressed by Panerai's open-mindedness, as few brands welcome advice from external designers for the creation of a model. We didn't want to create a fashion object but a watch with a DNA that is faithful to the aesthetic and historical codes of the company. The gold hands, the 'sandwich' dial, the platinum case, and even the leather strap were all tailor-made in reference to the brand's past.

The sale was preceded by a roadshow in nearly a dozen cities around the world to present it to collectors from all over the world and was carefully prepared by the brand, which is unaccustomed to frequenting auction house salons. Until today, we didn't follow auction news," says Jean-Marc Pontroué. It's never been a subject. In fact, we only set up the Heritage department four years ago, with Carlo Ceppi at its head. We now need to learn more about the world of collectors, build our heritage, and promote our legacy. This sale is a first step in that direction, but many others will follow it

The sale of the unique Radiomir timepiece on 3 November went to a Taiwanese collector of vintage Panerai for CHF 355'600, more than double its high estimate of CHF 180'000 (low estimate of CHF 60'000). This was a first for the brand, which has belonged to the Richemont group for thirty years. Although sales of Panerai watches have been organized in the past (mainly in Hong Kong), none has fetched such a sum. All proceeds from the sale were donated to UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.