A watch by Swiss luxury brand Patek Philippe has sold for over $31 million, the highest price ever paid for a timepiece at auction.
The Grandmaster Chime 6300A-010 has never been worn – it was created specially for Saturday’s auction in Geneva to raise money for research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy, according to Christie’s.
It is the only version of the timepiece ever produced in stainless steel and the alarm sub-dial is marked with a special inscription, “the only one.”
The watch has a reversible case in black and rose gold, 18-karat solid gold dial plates and is fixed with a band made of black, hand-stitched alligator leather.
It also includes all the features one might expect of luxury timepiece: gold Breguet numerals, a hand-guilloched hobnail center, a year display and a plethora of sub-dials.
Its sale on Saturday to a mystery buyer for 31 million Swiss francs, or $31.1 million, promotes it to a highly exclusive club.
The previous record for most expensive timepiece was set by a 1932 Patek Philippe watch, which sold for 23.2 million Swiss francs ($24 million at the time) to an anonymous buyer at a 2014 auction at Sotheby’s in Geneva.
Saturday’s sale also broke the previous record for most expensive wristwatch, which was set in 2017 by a Rolex Daytona that had been owned by the late American actor Paul Newman.
That watch sold for a record $17.8 million after a 12-minute bidding war at Phillips auction house.
In total, 50 lots were auctioned off in Saturday’s sale, raising 38.6 million Swiss Francs ($38.8 million) for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder which causes progressive muscle degeneration.
