Highlights: Phillips NYWA XII

From Frodsham to Frodsham.

As the Hong Kong auctions have wrapped, we move to the final sales of the spring season in New York City. Phillips will offer a healthy mix of new and old, common and rare, across 144 lots. The sale includes many of the expected top-of-the-line offerings, with the headline lot a Patek Philippe ref. 1518 in yellow gold, and staples like a pair of ref. 5004s. But there are plenty of interesting watches to be down catalog too, including some fresh faces and value buys.

Highlights include the best of English watchmaking made by Charles Frodsham a century apart, the auction debut of American independent Keaton Myrick, an unusual F.P. Journe Résonance, along with a Cartier pocket watch made by complications specialist THA. We round up these and a few more from The New York Watch Auction: XII, which takes place from June 7-8, 2025.

The full catalogue is available on Phillips.com.

Lot 11 – A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Chronograph “2022 Best of Show, Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este”

Since 2012, A. Lange & Söhne has been a sponsor of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, a classic car shown that takes place in spring on the picturesque shores of Lake Como. Each year, the owner of the event’s best car is presented with a unique Lange watch.

While past winners have received a fairly conventional Lange 1 Time Zone, the brand upgraded the prize in recent years to a striking 1815 Chronograph.

In 2022, the winner was Andrew Pisker with a Bugatti 57 S from 1937. He received this white gold 1815 chronograph with a salmon dial and dark brown registers.

Perhaps more interesting is the solid, hinged caseback, a feature the brand reserves for special occasions. The watch is otherwise the same as a normal 1815 Chronograph, and is powered by the landmark L951 also found in the Datograph.

Mr Pisker being presented the watch by Lange chief executive Wilhelm Schmid. Image – BMW

Only a handful of these 1815 Chronographs have been awarded at present, and this is the first to hit the auction block. The estimate is US$100,000-200,000.

Lot 24 – Charles Frodsham Split-Seconds Minute Repeating Tourbillon for J.P. Morgan

J.P. Morgan, a devotee of English watchmaking, ordered 20 split-second minute-repeating tourbillon pocket watches from Charles Frodsham, which he gifted to friends, family, and business associates, and are sometime known as “Morgan caliper” watches.

This one, made in 1916, is fresh to market and in excellent condition. Nicole, Nielsen & Co. supplied the movements – which were built on Swiss ebauches – as was the case with many fine English watches of the period. While the Swiss hesitated to combine tourbillons with complications, the English were eager, even putting them in super complications that rivaled the Patek Philippe made for Henry Graves Jr.

The firm was, and remains, known for chronographs, unsurprisingly as founder Adolphe Nicole invented the chronograph as we know it today.

The chronograph in the present watch is distinctive; it uses an oscillating pinion to mesh directly with the one-minute tourbillon cage to drive the chronograph seconds, while the chronograph minutes is similarly driven directly from the second wheel.

Image – Phillips

While the tourbillon and possibly chronograph are of English make, the repeating works are almost certainly Swiss, likely from Capt et Cie in Le Solliat, which specialized in the English style. The case, made by Frodsham, is the typical English fare with a stepped profile and recessed repeater slide, as is the white enamel dial.

Despite the watch’s interesting provenance and undeniable quality, the estimate is a mere US$70,000-140,000.

Lot 25 – Charles Frodsham Double Impulse Chronometer “Tribute to George Daniels”

More than a decade in the making, the Double Impulse Chronometer was the first wristwatch launched by the modern-day firm of Charles Frodsham. Surprisingly, the modern iteration of Charles Frodsham is not a revival brand like so many others, as the company never ceased operation.

After the decline of English watchmaking, the company subsisted primarily on retail, private label clocks, and restoration work—the latter preserved much of the know-how, equipment, and material used to make the Double Impulse Chronometer in its own workshops. In fact, this movement likely has less Swiss content than the J.P. Morgan watch above.

The escapement is based on the work of George Daniels and is essentially a natural escapement, except each escape wheel is driven independently by its own train (of solid gold wheels) and mainspring. Respectably, Frodsham eschewed anglage, remaining faithful to the English tradition, and putting all focus on the balance and escapement. The three-spoke balance bridge is beautifully polished and carries a massive free-sprung balance on a hand-folded overcoil hairspring. A subtle case back power-reserve indication adds further visual interest.

The London-made case is simple but of the highest quality and made from a 22k gold alloy, which has been work hardened to increase its durability. The dial is also an unusual material, zirconium dioxide ceramic rather than traditional enamel, and complements the fired-blue hands and dial furniture well.

The Daniels second hand.

In addition to being possibly the finest English watch currently made, this example was ordered with a custom seconds hand in the style of George Daniels that replaces the drop-shaped counterweight on the regular production version. The estimate is a fair US$120,000-240,000.

Lot 32 – Patek Philippe Ref. 3945/2 “First Series”

While the ref. 3945/1 is fairly common, the 3945/2 is vanishingly rare. In fact, this is the only one known to the market, and doesn’t appear in dealer catalogues from the period. It will probably also be one of the value buys in the sale, given the niche appeal of the ref. 3945 compared to the more common ref. 3940.

The difference between the two lies in the bracelets. Ref. 3945/1 features a bracelet woven from gold wire, which cannot be adjusted non-destructively. A jeweler can only shorten its bracelet by excising a section adjacent to the clasp and welding it back together, while extra length must be woven in, with care to match the gauge and tone of the original gold wire.

The 3945/2 variant has a beads-of-rice bracelet instead. The less intimidating, link-based construction means it should be easily adjustable by any reasonably skilled jeweler.

Image Phillips

Bracelet aside, it’s the same as the ref. 3945/1: modestly sized and classically styled. The dial hails from the first generation of ref. 3940 with sharply sunk subdials and more vintage typography. The movement, cal. 240 Q, is still in production today with only minor changes and powers the Nautilus perpetual calendar ref. 5740/1, among others.

Image – Phillips

The estimate of only US$25,000-50,000 isn’t a bad deal for an extremely rare, complicated, and handsome Patek Philippe.

Lot 73 – Keaton Myrick “1 of 30”

This lot marks the auction-house debut of Oregon-based American independent Keaton Myrick. Like many, many other independents, Mr Myrick chose the Unitas 6497/6498 pocket watch movement as his canvas.

He replaced the split-three-quarter plate indigenous to the caliber with a single three-quarter plate made of German silver. The dial is also german silver to match the movement, with rose gold hands and indices. Also note a second appearance of the Daniels style seconds hand.

Image – Phillips

Crucially, the balance wheel is Myrick’s own work, and is free-sprung with four rose gold cams to adjust the rate. The delicately figured balance bridge is also rose gold, and exposes the engine-turned main plate and blindingly high polished locating pins for the pallet fork bridge.

Another addition is the click, which has been replaced by a stationary ratchet wheel within the crown wheel. Notice how the screws retaining the ratchet wheel sit in slots rather than holes, to let the mainspring relax slightly after being fully wound.

Image from a different watch in the series.

The estimate is on the low end, US$15,000-30,000, due to the steel case and limited information. To sweeten the deal, Myrick has offered to exchange the 42 mm case for a 40.5 mm one, if so desired.

Lot 84 – Harry Winston and F.P. Journe Opus One Chronomètre à Résonance Piece Unique

Not long after being tapped to lead Harry Winston’s watchmaking division, Maximilian Büsser introduced the Opus series. Each year from 2002 to 2015, the brand collaborated with an independent watchmaker, with the goal of boosting the brand’s credibility in fine watchmaking, while supporting independent watchmaking, similar to Louis Vuitton’s recent collaborations with Akrivia and Voutilainen.

Mr Büsser approached the then fresh-faced François-Paul Journe for the inaugural series, which launched in 2002. Six unique pieces were made based on the Tourbillon Souverain, Chronomètre à Résonance, and Octa Réserve de Marche, for a total of 18 watches.

All were housed in the Premier design language created by Jean-Claude Gueit for the Bi-Retrograde Perpetual Calendar, itself a collaboration with independents, in the late 1980s.

Only two of the six watches made for each model are diamond-set. And, unlike the Tourbillon Souverain, F.P. Journe has never offered the Chronomètre à Résonance as part of the brand’s Joaillerie Collection, meaning this single watch represents half of all (known) gem-set Résonance models.

The estimates is US$300,000-600,000.

Lot 102 – Cartier 150th Anniversary Mysterieux pocket watch ref. CRHPC0009

This “mysterious” pocket watch was launched in 1990s when Cartier revived the mystery concept originally developed by Maurice Couet for the brand’s famous clocks. To recreate the floating display, Cartier turned to the watchmakers of THA, who would later go on to become stars.

While the ordinary gold-cased versions of the mystery pocket watch are encountered often enough, this example is exceptionally rare. The case is white gold and panelled in lapis lazuli set with diamonds that form the Big Dipper on one side, and the Little Dipper on the other.

Front, with the Big Dipper. Image – Phillips

Reverse, with the Little Dipper. Image – Phillips

The watch is powered by cal. 81003 S MC, developed by Techniques Horlogères Appliquées (THA), the complications specialist founded by François-Paul Journe that counted Denis Flageollet and Vianney Halter amongst its ranks.

The relevant components have been arranged in a crescent around the aperture. The hands sit on clear sapphire plates, giving the illusion of being suspended in air, and allowing you to see straight through the watch.