A stunning watch regarded as the ‘Holy Grail’ of timepieces is expected to sell for a world record £10 MILLION at auction.
The Henry Graves Supercomplication, made by Patek Philippe, is the most complex watch ever made completely by hand.
It was commissioned by New York banker Henry Graves in 1925 and it took Swiss horologists three years to research and a further five to make, completing it in 1933.
The watch has a gold openface minute repeating chronograph clockwatch with Westminster chimes.
It also features a perpetual calendar, moon phases, sidereal time, power reserve, and indications for time of sunset and sunrise and the night sky of New York City.
In total, there are 24 horological complications and ‘The Graves’ held the title of the world’s most complicated watch for 56 years.
The masterpiece has only been surpassed by technicians working with the aid of computers.
Sotheby’s, the auction house, sold the watch in 1999 after offering it with a guide price of £1.85 – £3 million.
But global interest saw the price soar and it was eventually sold for around £6.5 million ($11m).
It is thought the buyer of the watch was a member of the Qatari royal family who later gave it to Sotheby’s to help cover an unpaid debt.
The watch is now coming up for sale again with the auction house selling it in Geneva on November 14.
It is being offered with a guide price of 15 million Swiss francs (£9.8 million).
Tim Bourne, Sotheby’s worldwide head of watches, and Daryn Schnipper, chairman of Sotheby’s watch division, yesterday described The Graves as “the Holy Grail”.
They said: “The list of superlatives which can be attached to this icon of the 20th century is truly extraordinary.
“Indisputably the ‘Holy Grail’ of watches, The Henry Graves Supercomplication combines the Renaissance ideal of the unity of beauty and craftsmanship with the apogee of science.
“Our offering of this horological work of art in 1999 was unquestionably the highlight of our professional careers and set a world record which has held until today. We are extremely privileged to be offering it once again.”
