Only Watch edition 2021
A special watch selection of the Only Watch auction 2021.
This is the year’s edition of Only Watch, the charitable auction taking place in Geneva on the 6th of November and hosted by Christie’s, an auction which has become a must for many brands as it gives them a very positive visibility for a good cause, in this case raising funds to fight the Duchene dystrophy disease.
So the other day we had the chance of going to Monaco for the official launch event where all the watches were finally united and just a few days prior to this we could film most of the participating watches in slightly better conditions, reason, why we are bringing you today a recap on all these fine timepieces and yes, was mighty nice to be in Monte Carlo during the International Yacht Show.
Let’s get back to these watches in no particular order and let’s start with an original take by Girard Perregaux who re-issued a 1970s watch of theirs with the Casquette and though GP is a 230-year-old company, well in the 70’s and in the midst of the quartz crisis well they tried things and I have to say that I always liked the Casquette, meaning the cap in French, a digital quartz watch but this time reinterpreted by the Bamford Watch Department, the London based customiser, with this carbon case, cool and different watch for sure.
But let’s now talk only about mechanical pieces and only this and let’s start with the Akrivia Chronometre II, the RRCC II.
We couldn’t film it prior to this Monaco launch, same about some other watches I’ll go over later on, but I can tell you that it drew a lot of attention for multiple reasons. After the first series of Rexhep Rexhepi Chronometre Contemporain launched a few years back which encountered a large success among collectors, the guys from Akrivia have been working on this new model for quite some time and the model presented at this year’s Only Watch auction is actually the very first production model of this new series and I can already tell you that it might be difficult for you to get your hands on any of these new watches as they have already been all reserved.
This means that this particular model will most certainly fetch a rather high price as it’s almost your only possibility to get one and what a special one. I loved everything about it, the movement architecture, this really special dial using the “graté” technique onto which a thin champagne translucent enamel grand feu layer has been placed on, the amazing level of finishing and not to mention the special platinum case made by legendary case maker Jean-Pierre Hagmann.
the Krayon Anywhere, a really fantastic piece of mechanical marvel with its sunrise and sunset time indication which is always correct depending on the date and if you want to know more about the particularities of this timepiece, I clearly invite you to see a report we had done at the time about it because it’s really quite fascinating.
But coming back to this Only Watch version, well a lot has been put on the dial with this fine mosaic inspired by the French impressionist painter Claude Monet, really beautiful and the attention to details has been pushed really far and just wanted to note that for a brand not producing that many watches per year, well to donate one for the auction is quite a statement and I hope it will reach a good price, totally deserves it.
The Laurent Ferrier Classic Origin Hope uses the latest 3 hand manual wound movement of the brand, decorated with a modern twist and is encased for the very first time in a 40mm steel case. Obviously what stands out is this light green color, a bit on the pistachio side, which makes this timepiece really fresh but it remains elegant at the same time, really nice, pure and efficient design. Personally liked it a lot.
Definitely the cutest one of the auction with MB&F’s special reinterpretation of the HM9 Bulldog which has now transformed itself into this adorable little panda.
Something unique about the case is that it’s made of steel onto which a shinny white and black lacquer has been applied and two small titanium ears have been added on the domed sapphire glass as well as a small tail. I find this watch refreshing, bringing a bit of sweetness and for the person that will win this lot, well you will most definitely have a lot of smiles around you when you will be wearing it.
Jaquet Droz and the Grande Seconde Skelet-One Tourbillon and here the main originality is found with this rather surprising and really beautiful dial made from different shaped and tinted “plique à jour” enamel parts held in place by these gold beams going through the dial and what I particularly like is the subtle asymmetry of the whole thing. It gives more depth, makes it more interesting, nice job.
The next watch with the prototype version of the Richard Mille RM 67-02, the Charles Leclerc model, the Formula 1 Ferrari driver who is from Monaco, thus the white and red colors in honor of the Principauté found on the watch.
As you can expect this timepiece is super light and is equipped with a skeletonized automatic movement and you will only find an hour and minute marker on the dial side, no seconds there, just stick to the very basics. I quite like this minimalist approach regarding time tracking.
One of the big lots for sure with the Patek Philippe Complicated Desk Clock and the name says it all. So personally I really like that Patek came with a table clock, it’s different and I doubt anybody expected them to go down that route for this edition after the incredible success reached last time with the unique steel Grand Master Chime which holds the price record of any type of timepiece having reached a staggering 31 million dollars, yes that was quite insane.
So I doubt we will see this again with this particular lot, but it’s an interesting statement made by Patek and I appreciate that it places forward another type of mechanical watchmaking and hopefully it will contribute to the appeal that those type of timepieces have. For instance this year we’ve seen other table clocks being acknowledged by the GPHG in the Mechanical Exception category and I really feel they deserve to be appreciated too.
But coming back on this special lot, it holds a new caliber, the 86-135 PEND IRM Q SE, yes that’s also quite complicated and features a perpetual calendar, a moon phase and a week number indicator and has 31 days of power reserve. In terms of style, well let’s say that it needs to fit some kind of special interior decoration as it looks very classical, naturally extremely well made and refined, but then it’s a question of personal taste and I am pretty certain it will reach a hefty price tag, but the big question is how much and to what extent can the Patek name play in the final result, will be very interesting to follow and how it can be interpreted.
A special table clock with Ulysse Nardin and its stunning UFO introduced earlier this year, a clock made in cooperation with L’Epée, but this time coming in the emblematic orange color of the auction.
I find this piece of machine truly extraordinary and I simply love to look at this huge and slow beating balance wheel floating on top of it and just for info it beats at 0.5Hz, that’s only 3’600 oscillations per hour and that’s definitely not something you will see that often and with such a slow beat, well this clocks holds one year of power reserve
A super hot lot as De Bethune and Kari Voutilainen joined forces and developed something absolutely amazing and one that will get collectors quite crazy too.
They took the base of the De Bethune Kind of Two tourbillon and it’s super original side flipping aspect and on one side you are in the world of De Bethune and its unique design codes and on the other one you see a typical designed Voutilainen dial.
So enjoy this compilation and as a reminder the auction will take place in Geneva on the 6th of November and this has become such an event that it will no longer be held at the 4 Seasons hotel but directly in the large convention center of Palexpo and I really can’t wait to attend, I think we will be in again for some spectacular action as there has never been as many brands participating at the auction, a total of 53 brands.