Phillips’ spring auction season heads east for The Hong Kong Watch Auction: XXII on May 30 – 31. In addition to a strong roster of complications from big brands, and interesting indies as usual, there is a strong showing from the more artistic side of watchmaking spanning gemsetting, enamelling, hand engraving, and wood marquetry.
Lot 1010 – Jaquet Droz Magic Lotus Automaton
Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721 – 1790) was an extraordinarily skilled automata maker from La Chaux-de-Fonds, his most famous work being The Writer, which can write up to 40 pre-programmed characters, dipping his quill into an ink pot at intervals. Today, Swatch Group uses his name for métiers d’art watches and automata; this watch is both.
The onyx dial adds lapidary into the mix.
It is a two-train watch — turning the crown one direction winds the movement, while the other winds the animation, which is tripped by a button in the crown and runs for an unusually long four minutes on a full wind.
The koi swims around the dial, moving its tail back and forth and dives slightly to pass underneath the floating foliage (which is made of gold). A floating lotus flower opposite the koi acts as a visual counterweight. The petals clutch a yellow sapphire — or is it a red ruby, or a blue sapphire? It changes as the flower passes under the leaves or dial.
Finally, while the koi is cavorting around the dial, the dragonfly is hard at work keeping track of the movement’s 68-hour power reserve. That movement, based on the Frédéric Piguet cal. 1150, is decadently freehand engraved with koi swimming across the bridges. In all, the watch demands over 200 hours of artisanal work from gemsetting, enamel painting, and, of course, engraving.
Lot 1094 – Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos Marqueterie “Gustav Klimt”
Perhaps the most striking lot in the entire catalogue, the Atmos Marqueterie “Gustav Klimt” was a set of ten marquetry masterpieces recreating Gustav Klimt’s mosaics. It is the last in the series and depicts Stoclet Frieze, an image of a tree of life and an embracing couple.
Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced the Atmos Marqueterie collection to celebrate 80 years of Atmos. Unlike most perpetual motion machines, the Atmos contains no batteries, yet it can run indefinitely without rewinding, though the moon phase will need adjustment after 3,821 years.
The principle is simple: a bellows filled with ethyl chloride expands and contracts in response to temperature changes, and this motion is harnessed to wind a mainspring. A change of 1°C is enough to power the timepiece for two days as, despite its size, the torsion pendulum movement requires less than a tenth the energy of an ETA 2824.
The bellows.
The Atmos has a reputation for being relatively affordable, with entry-level models costing less than a basic stainless steel Master Ultra Thin Moon.
Considering the skilled labour needed to accomplish this cabinet, with 1,200 individual pieces of wood, each perfectly cut and fit together, the estimate of HK$780,000 – 1.56 million (US$100,000 – 200,000) seems quite reasonable.
Lot 890 – Credor Ref. GCLP989 Sakura Fubuki Raden Edition
Raden, literally meaning shell inlay, reached Japan during the Nara period of the eighth century, mostly used to decorate small boxes. The radiant technique is resurgent both domestically and abroad on the back of the fountain pen industry, and has made inroads into watchmaking.
For this lot, Credor turned to Tokyo-based Urushi-shi Yamada Heian-do, whose clients includes Chopard, Sailor and Platinum — the latter being two of the big three Japanese pen makers — and the Imperial household itself. This dial is jet-black lacquer — cured sap of the toxic Urushi tree — which is inlaid with mother-of-pearl (nacre) and dusted with platinum. Otherwise, it is a normal high-end Seiko product, meaning the case, hands, and leather strap are excellent.
Under the dial is Spring Drive cal. 7R89 which features a complication unique to Credor, a double disc big date, which is set from the crown and sets this now discontinued line apart from its more common Grand Seiko cousins.
This watch, which is number 80 out of 120 pieces, comes with the full box set, including a stainless steel bracelet and themed box. Surprisingly, Credor has been a regular of Phillips auctions for the past year, usually exceeding their estimates but still offering solid value. In this case, that is HK$50,000 – 100,000 (US$6,400 – 12,800).
Lot 1051 – Hublot Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami
This unique Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Black Ceramic Yellow & Orange Sapphires is a time-capsule from a different time, when monkey JPEGs were the next big thing. Yes, this is an NFT watch, and one of 12 unique pieces made in collaboration with Japanese neo-pop artist Takashi Murakami.
The Smiling Flower mascot, which comprises much of Murakami’s work, is bejeweled with 384 brilliant-cut, snow-set sapphires — most of them yellow and orange. The flower’s face also contains sapphires, though of varied colours, in addition to ruby, amethyst, tsavorite, and topaz.
The petals are mounted on ball bearings, and spin freely, while the flower’s centre sits on a sheet of sapphire glass, apparently levitating above the hands and petals. Underneath is a pleasant surprise: a Hublot UNICO calibre rather than a re-badged ETA. It features the same three-day power reserve and silicon escapement as the more common UNICO chronographs, just without the chronograph.
The NFT moment may be over, but what it left behind can sometimes stand on its own. And, if NFTs do make a comeback, this watch comes with its digital twin. The estimate is HK$350,000 – 650,000 (US$44,900 – 83,300).
Lots 1011 to 1014 – Patek Philippe Ref. 5077P-033, 034, 035, and 036 Calatrava, Canards Mandarins
The Mandarin Duck is generally held to be the most beautiful duck. These four platinum Calatravas with cloisonné enamel dials provide more evidence for that, showing pairs of male Mandarin ducks in four different situations.
In each composition, there is always one duck ashore and another on the water, recreating the bird’s colourful plumage as it stands on the waterfront, beach, or on jagged rocks. While the ducks demand attention, the water is worth a closer look, rendered with translucent blue enamel, with natural reflections of a cloudy blue sky, the ducks, and the light shimmering over the water.
These four watches were manufactured as a set, as hinted at by their consecutive movement numbers. After being delivered in 2009, they have sat unopened in their original plastic in perfect condition.
Phillips has decided to break up the set of four, offering each as its own lot, which makes sense as each comes with a separate box, with discrete papers. However, a collector’s goal is likely to unite the set, meaning winning four auctions, all with the same estimate of HK$400,000 – 700,000 (US$51,300 – 89,700).
Preview and auction
The sale and preview exhibition will take place at Phillips Hong Kong in the West Kowloon Cultural District.
Preview
Open daily May 26-31, 2026, from 10:00 am-7:00 pm
Auction
May 30 – 12:00 pm (Session I lots 801 – 941)
May 31 – 12:00 pm (Session II lots 942 – 1097)
(All times are local to Hong Kong, GMT+8.)
G/F WKCDA Tower
Cultural District
8 Austin Road West
Kowloon, Hong Kong
For the full catalogue, visit Phillips.com.
This was brought to you in partnership with Phillips.
