Watch auctions in Geneva, November 2026: lots and estimates

Every autumn, Geneva concentrates a large part of the global collector’s watch market over three days: Phillips, Sotheby’s and Christie’s follow one another on the banks of Lake Geneva. Here are the watches to watch, their official estimates and how to see them up close or bid.

Three houses, three days by the lake

Phillips, in association with Bacs & Russo, will open the ball with The Geneva Watch Auction: XXIV, on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 November at 2 pm, at the Hotel President (quai Wilson 47). The catalogue includes 221 lots: numbers 1 to 107 will be sold on Saturday, numbers 108 to 221 on Sunday. The same Sunday, at 10 am, Sotheby’s will open its Important Watches sale, which announces pieces from Patek Philippe, Rolex, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin and Cartier, as well as independent watchmakers. Christie’s will close the proceedings on Monday 9 November at 12:30 pm, at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues (quai des Bergues 33), with its Rare Watches sale.

The Patek Philippe 1436, star at Phillips

Lot 95 is the most expensive of the Geneva season to date: a Patek Philippe reference 1436 in steel, manufactured in 1945. Launched in 1938, the 1436 was the first split-seconds chronograph produced in series by the manufacture, with approximately 140 examples made over 33 years according to Phillips. Steel is extremely rare: only two steel 1436s have kept their original case and dial, each in a different configuration. This one features a silvered dial with applied steel indices and a tachymeter scale; the crown serves as the split-seconds pusher. An extract from the Patek Philippe archives confirms its manufacture in 1945 and its sale in 1949. Estimate: 2 to 4 million Swiss francs. It will be sold on Saturday 7 November.

Cartier, Journe, Rolex: the rest of the podium

Behind the 1436, Phillips is lining up a piece rarely seen in a watch sale: the Cartier Portique mystery clock no. 4, estimated at 1.8 to 3.2 million Swiss francs. Cartier only made six Portique clocks, according to Phillips, which had already presented no. 3 in May 2025. The principle of the series: a dial that seems to float between two translucent columns, under a pediment inspired by the porticos of Chinese temples.

The F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance ‘Régence’ (lot 7, 2002), made for the Swiss retailer Les Ambassadeurs, is the only one of the three hand-engraved ‘Régence à Losange’ dials to be in rose gold; it is estimated at over one million Swiss francs. As for Rolex, the Cosmograph Daytona 6241 ‘John Player Special’ in 14k gold (lot 20, circa 1969) is estimated at 800,000 to 1.6 million: its bracelet is stamped ‘V.C.A’ and an inventory number engraved under a lug points very likely, according to Phillips, to Van Cleef & Arpels. The Rolex 6062 ‘Stelline’ in yellow gold (lot 129, circa 1952), found in Japan with its first owner, is expected between 600,000 and 1.2 million.

Also to watch: a Patek Philippe 2497 from 1953, the only known example signed by the New York retailer Gumbiner (250,000 to 500,000), and the F.P. Journe Vagabondage III in platinum and diamonds (350,000 to 700,000).

Sotheby’s bets on Lange and George Daniels

Sotheby’s is revealing its catalogue in dribs and drabs. Among the first lots published, the highest piece is an A. Lange & Söhne pocket watch in rose gold sold in 1914: perpetual calendar, moon phases, quarter repeater, grande and petite sonnerie. Having never appeared in a public sale, it is estimated at 500,000 to 1 million Swiss francs. The house is also offering a George Daniels Millennium in yellow gold from 2001, one of 48 produced in this metal (300,000 to 600,000), and a Lange 1 in steel, reference 101.026, produced according to Sotheby’s in about thirty examples (150,000 to 300,000). The sale poster shows a Rolex Daytona ‘Paul Newman’ reference 6239 in yellow gold.

Christie’s and the charity sale for ELA

Monday’s sale is titled Rare Watches Including Watches for ELA. Christie’s promises pieces ‘of the greatest rarity’, vintage as well as independent, following a May 2026 sale that totalled 33.1 million Swiss francs with 99% of lots sold. A charity section, Watches for ELA, brings together watches donated by brands for the benefit of ELA International, which supports research into leukodystrophies and affected families. Gerald Charles, for example, has entrusted the prototype of its Maestro 2.0 Ultra-Thin ‘Tiger’s Eye’. The lots and their estimates will be published on the sale page, on christies.com.

Geneva records to keep in mind

These estimates remain far from the peaks reached in Geneva. The most expensive watch ever sold at auction was hammered there: the Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime 6300A-010, 31 million Swiss francs at Christie’s on 9 November 2019, during the Only Watch charity sale. Sotheby’s sold the Henry Graves Supercomplication for 23,237,000 francs in November 2014. Closer to home, Phillips hammered on 8 November 2025 a Patek Philippe 1518 in steel for 14,190,000 francs, a record for a vintage Patek Philippe wristwatch, and the Rolex ‘Bao Dai’, a 6062 like this year’s ‘Stelline’, had reached 5,066,000 francs at Phillips in May 2017. The full ranking can be found in our dossier on the most expensive watches in the world.

See the watches without paying for entry

No need to bid to approach these pieces: pre-sale exhibitions are free and open to the public, as Phillips and Sotheby’s remind us. At Phillips, at the Hotel President, the exhibition will open from Wednesday 4 to Friday 6 November from 10 am to 7 pm, Saturday 7 from 9 am to 7 pm and Sunday 8 from 9 am to 1 pm. Sotheby’s will exhibit from Thursday 5 to Saturday 7 November, from 10 am to 6 pm, at the Mandarin Oriental (quai Turrettini 1). Christie’s will publish its hours on its sale page. The sales can also be followed live on the houses’ websites.

Bidding: fees, registration and calendar

To bid, you must register with the house with an identity document and proof of address. Phillips advises new clients to register at least 48 hours before the sale to bid in the room, and 24 hours before to bid online or by phone. Above all, the estimate does not tell the final price: according to the Phillips buyer’s guide in Geneva, the commission reaches 27% of the hammer price up to 1.6 million francs, 21% between 1.6 and 7 million, 14.5% beyond, and Swiss VAT of 8.1% is added (refunded to buyers domiciled outside Switzerland who export the watch). A 1436 hammered at 4 million would thus cost 4,936,000 francs excluding VAT, according to our calculation. Sotheby’s and Christie’s publish their own scales in the conditions of each sale. The week will continue with high jewellery, including the Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale on 10 November.