A 20-carat gold Grand Complication pocket watch by Vacheron Constantin has sold for US$1.8 million – three times its original estimate – at Christie’s in New York.
The pocket watch originally belonged to James Ward Packard (1863-1928), the automobile manufacturer who was one of the first American collectors to work directly with the Geneva-based watch manufacturer.
According to Christie’s, the sale was “a truly exceptional result for an equally exceptional watch”.
“In addition to displaying the hours, minutes and seconds beneath a rock crystal glass, this timepiece features a personalised combination of complications including hour, minute, quarter and half-quarter repeating, grande and petite sonnerie as well as a 30-minute chronograph register.”
The watch, which also features the monogram ‘JWP’ on blue enamel on its back, was “in impeccable condition” as it had been “preserved in the safe of a bank” for the past 60 years.