OnlyWatch 2021

This year saw the return of biennial charity auction, OnlyWatch, where some of the major names in horology come together to produce a collection of totally unique, one-off timepieces which are auctioned for charity. OnlyWatch 2021 this year marks the 9^th edition of OnlyWatch, and there were 53 individual lots with 54 brands contributing.

OnlyWatch was founded by Luc Pettavino in 2005 as a charity auction raising funds to support research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and since its inception (including this year’s auction which took place in Geneva on Saturday 6^th November and raised CHF 30 million), OnlyWatch has now raised an eyewatering CHF 100 million plus for charity! Indeed, next year will see the commencement of clinical trials researching Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy which would not have been possible without the support of OnlyWatch.

You might recall earlier this year I picked my top 5 standout watches from the auction, and so I thought for this article I would take a look at how these performed at auction, and some of the other eye-catching results seen.

Kari Voutilainen x De Bethune Kind of Magic

When it was first announced, there were no photos of this watch, however when I read the description of the watch and what it represents to its makers, I still knew that this would be one of my personal top picks.

When the pictures were finally released, it certainly didn’t disappoint!

This was ultimately hammered for an incredible CHF 1.3 million against an estimate of ‘just’ CHF 200,000 – 250,000.

Ludovic Ballouard Half Time “Vinyl 33 Tours”

If you asked me to pick just one watch from OnlyWatch 2021 collection as my favourite, this would be it. Whilst I couldn’t get hands on with this watch this time, or even see too much of it as it was being shown to collectors during my visit, I was able to see some other Ludovic Ballouard watches during my trip, and they are mind-blowingly impressive.

Clearly the bidders thought similarly, as this watch hammered for CHF 140,000 against its estimate of CHF 40,000 – 60,000.

Baltic Pulsometer Chronograph Monopusher 1/1

I love what Baltic do, and with this piece I especially like the fact that they incorporated an 80-year-old movement into the watch as well.

It looked absolutely fantastic, and I suspected that this might perform well at the auction; it was amazing to see this piece hammer for CHF 50,000 against its estimate of CHF 12,000 – 18,000.

MB&F HM10 Panda

Like the Ludovic Ballouard watch, I wasn’t able to see much of this watch close up, but I was able to check out the HM10 Bulldog in person during a visit to the M.A.D Gallery! Max Büsser and the MB&F team had a really good week having won 2 GPHG Awards, and also several pieces which performed well at auction over the weekend.

The HM10 Panda hammered for CHF 620,000 against its estimate of CHF 100,000 – 150,000.

F.P. Journe x Francis Ford Coppola FFC Blue

To my mind, this was the biggest talking point and highlight of this year’s collection, as well being one of the most unusual watches I can remember seeing!

The result for this certainly didn’t disappoint, and this piece hammered with a final bid of CHF 4.5 million – a mere 11 times the high end of its CHF 300,000 – 400,000 estimate! F.P. Journe also announced on their Instagram that this will be coming as a production piece in due course, so it will be interesting to see that when it launches.

Other standout results from OnlyWatch 2021

In addition to the 5 picks above which originally stood out to me, there were another 48 lots in the auction which threw up some big numbers and interesting results which are worth taking a look at as well.

The rise of the independent watchmaking can be seen in some of the results especially – many examples can be seen of marked increases in results between OnlyWatch 2019 and OnlyWatch 2021.

For instance, Akrivia – the brand of Rexhep Rexhepi – increased from CHF 360,000 in 2019 to CHF 800,000 in 2021. Konstantin Chaykin saw an increase from CHF 70,000 in 2019 to CHF 290,000 in 2021. Czapek saw an increase from CHF 110,000 in 2019 to CHF 240,000 in 2021. Perhaps most notably, H. Moser & Cie saw an increase from CHF 48,000 in 2019 up to a staggering CHF 750,000 in 2021.

It will be interesting to see how the likes of independents Laurent Ferrier and Krayon (CHF 160,000 and CHF 320,000 respectively in this year’s auction having not been part of OnlyWatch 2019) perform in 2023, assuming of course they contribute a piece to the auction, and whether this general upward trend of independents continues (personally, I suspect it will).

Of course, there are contributions to OnlyWatch from the bigger brands, too, and they don’t come much bigger than Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet.

This year, Patek Philippe contributed a desk clock based on a desktop clock delivered to James Ward Packard in 1923, which can in fact be seen today in the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva. As the star of many an auction, it comes as no surprise that this clock hammered for the most money in the auction, raising an astonishing CHF 9.5 million against an estimate of CHF 400,000 – 500,000.

Audemars Piguet contributed the last ever Royal Oak 15202 Jumbo to be manufactured, with all the hallmarks of the Royal Oak and a vintage logo design. As the last ever 15202 it was always going to be a high performer, and it eventually hammered for CHF 3.1 million against an estimate of between CHF 160,000 – 320,000.

If you’re interested to learn more of the results, you can check out the full listing of results on Christies here.

In Summary

When I first discovered OnlyWatch in 2019, I was super excited to learn more about it, and I had been waiting to see what would be on offer in 2021. When I discovered this year’s collection was not visiting London, I was sorely disappointed, but thanks to a stroke of good fortune I was at least able to see the collection whilst on my visit to Geneva. I was unfortunately not able to get hands on with any of the watches as I had in 2019. A shame, for sure, but maybe next time in 2023!

It will be great to see what comes along again in two years’ time, and who knows, maybe there will be even more records to be broken during the auction!

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For more information on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy or other Muscular Dystrophy conditions, visit www.musculardystrophyuk.org, or www.mda.org

For more information on OnlyWatch, visit www.onlywatch.com

You might also be interested in:

• OnlyWatch 2019
• OnlyWatch 2021 – My Top 5 Picks
• Independent Watchmaking – An Ode to the Indies
• Watch Stationery and Gift Ideas
• Watch Books, Watch Boxes and more at the Watch Affinity Shop on Amazon (commissions earned)

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