Phillips’ spring auction season wraps up with The Hong Kong Watch Auction: XXII on May 30 – 31. As is now the norm, independent watchmakers have carved out a significant section of the catalogue including the usual suspects from F.P. Journe and Philippe Dufour, as well as rare showings from under-the-radar makers like Oscillon and Yosuke Sekiguchi.
Lot 878 – Oscillon L’instant de Vérité
Despite how hot the indie segment has become, Oscillon has largely stayed under the radar, perhaps due to its intensely cerebral nature, or because the brand only produces about five watches per year. The duo behind the brand, Dominique Buser and Cyrano Devanthey, are collectors of pre-computerised watchmaking machines.
Their collection is so extensive that they can produce all movement parts – save for the jewels and shock protection – under their own roof using these machines.
Even putting this context aside, the watches themselves are still mechanically interesting. The most striking detail is the bowtie-shaped balance, which is harder to poise and less aerodynamic than a conventional annular balance, but looks much cooler.
L’instant de Vérité uses an unusual tensator constant-force spring. To explain this, consider a tape measure. The force required to pull more length from a tape measure doesn’t noticeably increase regardless of the length already paid out. Now imagine hooking the end of the tape to a pulley, so that turning the pulley (winding) pulls tape out, and using the force of the spring trying to retract to power the movement – for an impressive 80 hours, in this case.
Visually, the system is quite similar to the chain and fusee, and similarly requires a maintaining system — hence the prominent differential opposite the balance. Without it, the watch would stop during winding.
Despite the avant-garde movement, the L’instant de Vérité watch is rather compact (38 mm) and unassuming from the outside apart from its unusual engine-turned dial, which is evocative of a chequered flag.
The L’instant de Vérité has an estimate of HK$800,000 – 1.6 million (US$103,000 – 205,000), but these watches are few and rarely come to market, so this will be a result worth watching.
The red dot alerts you if the watch has stopped.
Lot 877 – Philippe Dufour Simplicity, in stainless steel
While Philippe Dufour is a master watchmaker, he is better known today as a master finisher due to his Simplicity, launched in 2000, which sought to bring the fine finish of high-grade Vallee de Joux pocket watches — especially the decadent anglage — to a modern wristwatch.
And he did it without compromise, using some of the industry’s best suppliers, building on the performant Valjoux VX layout and using a free-sprung balance with overcoil hairspring before it was convention.
While collector interest in fine movements already existed, and was growing in the 2000s, the launch of the Simplicity accelerated interest in independent watchmaking and laid the groundwork for watches like the Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Contemporain.
In 2020 Dufour celebrated the 20th anniversary of his most important model with 20 more watches. This watch is one of the first ten, which were allocated to existing collectors; ten more followed, which were allocated by lottery. The present watch, no. 210, is the only numbered example with a stainless steel case to reach auction.
Unsurprisingly, the estimate for this lot is a hefty HK$2.8 – 5.6 million (US$359,000 – 718,000) — one of the few cases in which steel is worth more than gold.
Lot 844 – Haldimann Ref. H11/12 Central Balance
Beat Haldimann is best known for his central flying tourbillons — beginning with the H1 in 2002 — but in 2013 added a pair of simple watches to his repertoire: the two-hand H11 and three-hand H12, both of which were retroactively renamed the H12, regardless of hand count.
Following Haldimann’s tourbillon movements, the H12 balance nests at the middle of the movement, resembling an antique full-plate movement. This isn’t an ideal spot for a balance in a pocket watch, as any axial movement about the centre of the watch, such as while shifting around in a pocket, has the greatest effect on the balance, but that isn’t an issue for a wristwatch.
Like the duo behind Oscillon, Beat Haldimann is an enthusiast of pre-digital manufacturing and you won’t find a single CNC mill or lathe in his workshop either, though Haldimann’s annual production is slightly higher, perhaps a few dozen.
He also makes more of the watch than do most independent watchmakers. The Haldibloc shock absorber for example, which, as you might guess from the name, is made in Mr Haldimann’s workshop to his own design.
The same is true for his classical but distinctive cases, which are usually fashioned from white metals — mostly steel or platinum. This rare exception in rose gold is estimated to bring HK$400,000 – 800,000 (US$51,300 – 103,000).
Lot 843 – Yosuke Sekiguchi Ref. 39RG-BKWH Primevère 2023
Yosuke Sekiguchi is an up-and-coming Japanese-born, French-trained Swiss independent watchmaker who cut his teeth at La Joux Perret and Christophe Claret before pivoting to restoration work in 2016. Four years later, he founded his own brand with some help from a former employer, Mr Julien Vallon, for cases and distribution.
We covered a prototype of this watch in depth when it debuted in 2021, concluding that Mr. Sekiguchi’s execution was top-notch. The notable differences between the prototype and this watch are the balance — the prototype used a bimetallic pocket watch balance — and the black enamel dial.
While most 19th-century watches were equipped with enamel dials, the vast majority of these were white. Black enamel dials were vanishingly rare in comparison as they are tricky to produce at scale. While white enamel hides flaws, black amplifies them.
The movement takes after the ponts ronds-style movements strongly associated with Jules Jürgensen — to the point of being, perhaps erroneously, called ‘Jürgensen calibres’ by many collectors. The fidelity to this design is such that the movement could easily be mistaken for a re-cased pocket watch movement. It is however, all of new construction.
Take the cap jewel for example, which on closer inspection is a facsimile with a shock protection setting secreted underneath. The movement is also set by pulling out the crown, rather than by turning the bow as on Jürgensen pocket watches.
But it isn’t all smoke and mirrors — the mile-long counterweighted pallet fork is real and functional while the German silver movement is decorated to a noticeably higher standard than the originals. The circular graining across the bridges deserves special mention — rather than being concentric with the movement, the graining follows the most prominent edge of each bridge.
The estimate is tame compared to the blue chip independents, but still exceeds the watch’s retail price at HK$500,000 – 1 million (US$64,100 – 128,000),
Lot 845 – Urban Jürgensen Ref. 11C Detent Escapement Prototype
Speaking of the Jürgensen clan, German watch auctioneer Dr Helmut Crott led Urban Jürgensen’s penultimate revival, enlisting Kari Voutilainen and Jean-Francois Mojon (of Chronode) to develop the P8 wrist chronometer movement.
The chronometer (detent) escapement is famously ill-suited to wristwatches, or watches in general, yet the reputation it built at sea made it irresistible to watchmakers. Urban Jürgensen’s pivoted detent escapement incorporates a safety system to prevent tripping and it worked well enough for general wear, however it remained difficult to make and few were built.
This prototype belonged to the aforementioned CEO, Dr Helmut Crott, and given the recent revival of the Urban Jürgensen name, I can’t think of a better time to strike at this watch with its estimate of HK$450,000 – 900,000 (US$57,700 – 115,000).
Lot 895 – F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain, “Chine 2010 38”
The emerging Chinese market drove much of the Swiss watch industry’s growth during the early 21st century, especially in wake of the Great Recession. Mainland China was arguably the single largest consumer of Swiss watches when this watch was sold; however, it was only the second-largest direct importer after Hong Kong as the latter served a significant local market for shoppers from the mainland.
Visiting an F.P. Journe boutique meant a trip down to Hong Kong, until 2010 when the brand opened another in the Beijing Yintai Centre, which was marked by this limited edition styled after the Chinese flag. The brand produced limited editions for its boutiques and retailers fairly regularly, with the titanium and rose gold editions for the Tokyo boutique being the most famous, but formally ended that practice in 2024.
While limited to five pieces, this is the only member of the quintet in a 38 mm case, making this example somewhat unique and well-suited to today’s growing interest in mid-sized watches. Its rarity is further supported by the fact that the Beijing boutique closed its doors in 2017 without yielding any other limited editions. As a result, this watch carries the second highest estimate of the auction — in excess of HK$7.8 million (US$1 million).
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.
