Phillips’ upcoming Hong Kong auction encompasses excellent complications at a range of price points. Highlights at the top end include the controversial Patek Philippe ref. 3448 “Senza Luna”, a massive Jaeger-LeCoultre exotic tourbillon, a skeletonized Credor chronograph, and a special-order Patek Philippe that was presumably a gift from parent to son.

Also on the block are fine pocket watches for the Chinese market on the first day of the sale, while the second and third sale days include notable examples of independent watchmaking. The Hong Kong Watch Auction: XX takes place from May 23-25, 2025.

The full catalogue, and more, is available on Phillips.com.

Lot 913 – Patek Philippe Ref. 3448 ‘Senza Luna’

The ref. 3448 “Padellone” represents perhaps the best of Patek Philippe’s post-war watchmaking, at least in terms of perpetual calendars.

With sharp lines on the case and an uncluttered dial, the watch has a distinctive midcentury aesthetic that looks modern even today. The 37.5 mm diameter case has kept pace with contemporary sizing, making it even more compelling.

This example, however, is no ordinary ref. 3448, but is “Senza Luna”, Italian for “without moon”, as the dial lacks a the moon phase aperture. How a handful of ref. 3448s came to be without a moon phase aperture is unknown.

The moon-less dials are certainly real, but whether the watches originally left the factory in this configuration is less clear. There are five other “Senza Luna” examples like this, however, only one (case number “1’119’585”) has the moon-less dial explicitly mentioned in the archive extract.

There is precedent for moon-less versions of existing references, most famously the unique ref. 3448 made for former Patek Philippe sales head Alan Banbery had its moon phase removed in favor of a leap year indicator in 1975. And Tiffany & Co. sold a ref. 699 pocket watch with a power reserve indication instead of moon phase in 1960.

Unlike those watches with modified movements, the present lot still has a moon phase hidden underneath the dial, as the movement is identical to that of a standard ref. 3448.

The base movement is the automatic cal. 27-460 that was cutting-edge for the time, with a free-sprung Gyromax balance, overcoil hairspring, an unusually high 2.75 Hz beat rate, and bi-directional winding. Though technology has since advanced, it remains one of the best-looking automatics ever made.

This particular example also has another intriguing aspect to its history. The archive extract notes that the case was changed by the Henri Stern Watch Agency, Patek Philippe’s American distributor in 1978, possibly when the moon-less dial was added.

Patek Philippe was more amenable to customization in the past than today, routinely making changes to watches at the behest of important clients. For example, one specimen of the ref. 3448 had its yellow gold case exchanged for a platinum one, and another in platinum had a sapphire-index dial installed in 1997.

The “Senza Luna” with its dial confirmed by the archive extract sold for HK$10 million [US$1.3 million] at Sotheby’s in 2021. The present example has an estimate of HK$1.2-2.4 million [US$154,000-308,000].

Lot 990 – Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2

The brainchild of independent watchmaker Eric Coudray, who was then at JLC, the Gyrotourbillon was one of the first multi-axis tourbillon wristwatches. Originally launched in a round case, the second iteration Gyrotourbillon evolved into the Reverso format.

Its tourbillon is composed of two cages with perpendicular axes of rotation. The outer cage rotates once per minute, while the inner cage rotates once in only 18.75 seconds.

Inside is a free-sprung balance, made of gold to increase inertia while remaining compact, on a cylindrical balance spring. Note the use of an anachronistic stopwork to protect the delicate tourbillon from excessive torque. There is also a subtle 24-hour indicator (not a second time zone) to add visual interest.

While the extremely complex aluminum cages could only be developed using CAD tools and required a five-axis CNC mill to cut, there is still plenty of traditional watchmaking present.

JLC’s movement finishing, even on many tourbillons, is often quite industrial. That is not the case here, the movement has been painstakingly hand-decorated, with smooth rounded beveling, pyramide guilloche, and plenty of sharp interior angles.

The massive platinum case is also impressive, almost 16 mm in height, 36 mm in width, and 55 mm across the wrist. It’s even larger than the Reverso Quadriptyque, and the case has so much inertia that JLC found it necessary to add a locking slide to prevent it from flipping open during sudden wrist movements.

Reversing the watch lets you enjoy the tourbillon from a different perspective and reveals a power reserve indicator.

This landmark Reverso carries an estimate of HK$470,000-930,000 [US$60,300-119,000].

Lot 1006 – Patek Philippe Chiming Jump Hour Ref 5275

In 2014, Patek Philippe celebrated 175 years with six limited editions, only two of which were powered by entirely new movements: the Grandmaster Chime ref. 5175, limited to seven pieces, and the more accessible (relatively speaking) Chiming Jump Hour ref. 5275, limited to 175 pieces.

The Chiming Jump Hour is clearly inspired by ref. 3969, another jump hour in a similar case shape, launched to celebrate the brand’s 150th anniversary, which was in turn inspired by watches from the 1920s.

The platinum case has a floral pattern in relief along the flanks, which carries onto the (stamped) dial. It’s rather large for a shaped watch, as was the taste at the time, but was dwarfed by the Grandmaster Chime.

Unlike the Grandmaster Chime, which returned as the regular production ref. 6300 a few years later, the movement in the ref. 5275 remains unique over a decade later. It combines jumping seconds, jumping minutes, and jump hours with a sonnerie au passage, which strikes once on the new hour.

Patek Philippe took four years to develop the cal. 32-650 HGS PS inside the ref. 5275, and its development put the brand’s investments in silicon technology to good use. Silicon was employed in several mechanisms, including the jumping seconds system, which was reused on the Grande Sonnerie ref. 6301.

With only 175 made, the ref. 5275 is an uncommon sight. The estimate is HK$2.3-3 million (US$295,000-385,000).

Lot 981 – Seiko Credor Skeleton Chronograph GBBL993

Long before the Micro-Artist Studio, and the Credor Eichi, Seiko already produced top-of-the-line mechanical watches with artisanal decoration, but available solely in Japan, and styled accordingly. As a result, they are rarely seen and even less known today. And unlike the current Credor flagship models that are Swiss inspired, these earlier watches are more distinctively Japanese in style.

One such example is the Credor Skeleton Chronograph ref. GBBL993, perhaps the ultimate serially-produced Credor chronograph. Igbt’s powered by the skeletonised, finely decorated, cal. 6S99, while the platinum case has straight lugs and a beaded edge to the bezel, a familiar element found on other Credor Signo models of the period.

The dial is sapphire, giving the illusion that the iridescent mother-of-pearl subdials are floating above the movement. The Credor signature printed on the underside of the crystal, the sharply inclined chapter ring, and skeletonized movement further accentuate the dial’s depth.

The manual-wind cal. 6S99 is the most upmarket version of the 6S chronograph family, which is based on the 9S family of movements used in the Grand Seiko brand. One of Seiko’s idiosyncrasies is that manually wound movements typically command a premium over their automatic equivalents.

The cal. 6S99 was one of the most elaborately decorated movements Seiko produced at the time, and even today it stands out. The bridges and plate are skeletonized and decorated with a distinctly Japanese “amoni wave” pattern while the chronograph levers carry a hand-applied perlage finish.

The steel springs, while comparatively plain-looking, are finely grained, beveled, and comparable to what you’d find on the best Swiss and German chronographs. The eye-catching blue screws done the traditional way, with a torch, as evidenced by their slightly inconsistent coloring.

Image – Phillips

The watch is freshly serviced. It is an interesting value proposition – with the platinum case and highly-decorated movement, it has an estimate of only HK$60,000-125,000 [US$7,700-16,000].

Lot 890 – Patek Philippe Ref. 3970EJ-029

The ref. 3970 was long an under-appreciated watch, living in the shadows of both what came before, and what came after. While the reference was officially discontinued in 2004, Patek Philippe continued to produce new watches as special orders for their most important clients.

This example is one of them. The watch was sold new in 2019, and the black dial has been customized – it features an applied Breguet “12” and tachymeter scale

In general, the ref. 3960 is a nostalgic watch; the mid-sized case and Lemania-based caliber can’t be found in the brand’s current catalog since the ref. 5004 was discontinued in 2011.

Complete with its all-important original certificate describing the dial, this example is not unique as another was sold just two years ago, but it is rare, with only a handful made. That is reflected in the estimate of HK$3,000,000-5,000,000 [US$385,000-641,000] that far exceeds a normal ref. 3970.

Lot 1054 – Patek Philippe Calatrava Pilot Alarm Travel Time ref. 5520P

Launched in 2019, this polarizing, octopus-like multi-complication is Patek Philippe’s idea of the ultimate travel watch. It combines the brand’s Travel Time complication with an alarm – that strikes on a gong rather than against the case – in a platinum-case, pilot-style package.

The aviation-inspired design language was controversial when it debuted on the Calatrava Pilot Travel time ref. 5224  back in 2015, but has since become a key part of the catalogue. There is some historical precedent to the design, as Patek Philippe does have a connection to pilots’ watches, albeit a modest one, in the form of two prototypes housed in its museum.

The Alarm Travel Time uses a unique, self-winding base movement not found in any other reference, and is one of the few complicated Patek Philippe watches with sweep seconds.

The alarm is one of the most advanced on the market, able to be set in 15-minute increments using a digital display. Unlike most alarm watches, it can differentiate between day and night.

The alarm hammer strikes a gong, as was the case with Patek Philippe’s historical alarm watches, rather than against the case, as is the case on more pedestrian alarm watches. It also uses a near-silent centrifugal governor, as found on the band’s minute repeaters and clock watches, to pace the chimes; the result is a very pleasing sound.

Despite its rarity, the ref. 5520P can still be had for under its retail price, which is high due t its complexity. In this case the estimate is HK$950,000-1.5 million [US$122,000-192,000)].

Lot 839 – A. Lange & Söhne Triple Split

In 2004, A. Lange & Söhne introduced the Double Split, a chronograph with both split-seconds and split-minutes–a feat previously only accomplished in pocket watches. Never one to stand still, Lange added split-hours into the mix with the Triple Split in 2018.

The case is the brand’s typical fare, with distinctive stepped-out lugs, and continues its tradition of placing the split-button in the case band, rather than in the crown, as is the convention for wristwatches. This rose gold variation, of which only 100 were made, is matched with a handsome blue and silver dial.

To create the Double Split, Lange built on the landmark L951 movement of the Datograph, adding a pair of rattrapante mechanisms, one for seconds and the other, minutes. From there, Lange added an hour totalizer and a third rattrapante to the dial side of the movement, creating the Triple Split.

When a rattrapante is engaged, friction between the split-second lever and heart cam steals energy from the balance; the issue compounds with two rattrapante mechanisms in the same movement, and even more with three.

To solve this, Lange added isolators to each rattrapante, similar to the systems used by Patek Philippe and Frederic Piguet, which results in the balance amplitude marginally increasing when the chronograph is split, rather than significantly decreasing.

Despite the isolators, Lange still increased the strength of the mainspring to deliver even more torque, and a Triple Split is noticeably and impressively stiffer to wind than a Datograph.

The estimate is HK$650,000-1 million [US$83,300-128,000].

Lot 857 – Patek Philippe ref. 5004G-013 – Single Sealed

When launched by Patek Philippe in late 1994, ref. 5004 was the brand’s first serially produced rattrapante wristwatch in decades. The 5004’s case wears larger than the 3970, which has no doubt contributed it its popularity. This “single sealed” example is still encased in plastic, which is fantastic.

Image – Phillips

Image – Phillips

The 5004 enjoys a few advantages over its successor. For instance, the day, date, month, and moon phase can all be advanced in sync using one pusher, and the 2.5 Hz beat-rate means the 1/5 second graduations on the dial match the frequency of the movement. Normally, the limited torque of the Lemania movement would rule out the possibility of adding a rattrapante. To address this, ref. 5004 uses a unique isolator system designed by Jean-Pierre Musy that uses an “octopus wheel” on the rattrapante column wheel to engage the isolator.

Image – Phillips

The most common metal by far was platinum, followed by rose and yellow gold, with white gold being the rarest–excluding the stainless steel swan-song models. However, white gold remains less desirable than platinum; the estimate is HK$1,500,000-3,000,000 [US$192,000-385,000].

Lot 933 – Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph ref. 5970P-013 Double Sealed

Like the ref. 5070, the ref. 5970 was initially viewed as a stop-gap measure to keep up with enlarging case sizes during the early 2000s until a new chronograph movement could be deployed. However, the ref. 5970 has managed to outshine both its successor and predecessor, with its balanced 39 mm case size, well-proportioned dial, and charismatic Lemania caliber.

Image – Phillips

To make a much-loved watch even more interesting, this platinum ref. 5970P was a special order. Instead of the black dial found on the standard model, this has a dark metallic grey dial with contrasting red hands.

Image – Phillips

And on the back, “A Mon Fils”, which translates as “to my son”, printed on the sapphire window. Notably, this particular watch was one of several special-order Patek Philippe watches with the same grey-and-black livery.

Image – Phillips

The watch remains double sealed, so it has never been touched since it left the factory. The estimate reflects the unique nature and unworn condition of the watch, HK$4-8 million [US$513,000-1,030,000].

Preview and auction

The sale and preview exhibition will occur at Phillips Hong Kong in the West Kowloon Cultural District.

Preview
Open daily May 16-25, 2025, from 11:00 am-7:00 pm

Auction
May 23 – 6:30 pm (Evening Session I lots 801 – 816)
May 24 – 2:00 pm (Session II lots 817 – 933)
May 25 – 2:00 pm (Session III lots 934 – 1058)

(All times are local to Hong Kong, GMT+8.)

G/F WKCDA Tower
Cultural District
8 Austin Road West
Kowloon, Hong Kong

For the auction catalogue and online bidding, visit Phillips.com.

This was brought to you in partnership with Phillips.