From The Only Watch Preview, Antiquorum New York.

This year marked the 5th edition of the ONLY WATCH benefit auction, a long-standing partnership between  the Association Monegasque Contre les Myopathies, Antiquorum Auctioneers and the Monaco Yacht Show.  ONLY WATCH benefits research into finding a successful treatment and cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the most severe form of the disease.  Muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder in which a genetic condition prevents the formation of dystrophin, a structural protein essential for the strength of skeletal muscle.  This year’s benefit auction raised a record sum for ONLY WATCH:  EUR 5,066,000.

From Antiquorum’s official announcent of the results:

Only Watch has its most successful auction ever, raising an unprecedented total of € 5,066,000 in support of research for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Monaco, September 28, 2013 — The fifth edition of the biennial Only Watch auction held on September 28 at the Hermitage Hotel in Monaco totaled an unprecedented EUR 5,066,000, with all proceeds benefitting research for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The auction room was filled to capacity with watch collectors and philanthropists eager to bid on the outstanding collection of unique timepieces especially created for the exceptional charity auction as well as the extraordinary selection of 14 vintage champagne bottles from Lanson. Competitive bidding came from all corners of the globe including China, Belgium, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, the United States and Monaco.

“It was an honor for Antiquorum to once again support the Only Watch auction benefitting research for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. We are ecstatic to have raised Euro 5,066,000 for the collection of 33 unique timepieces highlighted by the fierce bidding for the Patek Philippe Ref. 5004T which achieved an unparalleled Euro 2,950,000, the highest price ever attained for a modern wristwatch. We would like to thank all participants for making the fifth edition of Only Watch such a resounding success and helping to spread awareness of this debilitating disease across the globe, “said Julien Schaerer, Managing Director Antiquorum Geneva.

A total of 34 watch brands generously donated one-of-a-kind timepieces –you can view the full price list and results here, and in the meantime, we’d like to share with you the eight top lots, all of which hammered for EUR 100,000 or more (in some cases rather amazingly more.)  Images and descriptions courtesy Antiquorum.  Though these were the top performing lots, obviously all participants deserve congratulations and thanks from all of us in the watch community for their support of this initiative!

Lot No. 4, Breguet Classique Chronograph Openwork.  EUR 100,000

Lot No. 7, Christophe Claret X-TREM-1 Pinball For Only Watch, EUR 100,000

C. Rectangular with curvex profile, hours and minutes are indicated by two 4mm-diameter hollowed spheres weighing 0.100 grams that move past sapphire scales marked with thin orange Super-LumiNova graduations beneath the sapphire, 3 ATM or 30 m, polished white gold/blue anodised Perunal-type aluminium, fast time adjustment is via an integrated pusher on the middle at 12 o’clock, winding and time-setting via rotating “bows” that fold under caseback. M. Caliber FLY11, mechanical, hand-wound, 26.6 x 46.4 x 11.94 mm, 419 parts, 64 jewels, power reserve: 50+ hours, 3 Hz (21,600 vph), flying tourbillon inclined at 30° supported by a double ceramic bearing, with cone-shaped pinion transmission and rotates once every 60 seconds, Swiss lever escapement, dual barrels: one for the movement gear train and one for the time indications, the tourbillon movement and the time indication gear trains each have their own independent energy supply to optimise the power reserve.

Lot No. 13, DeWitt TWENTY-8-EIGHT High Jewelry Skeleton Tourbillon Unique Piece For Only Watch, EUR 120,000.C. Round case adorned with DeWitt imperial columns on the flanks, bezel and case set with baguette and brilliant cut diamonds (3.7 cts) 18-carat white gold polished crown adorned with a blackened titanium ring featuring the “W” signature, sapphire crystal. D. Skeletonized M. Caliber DW8028s, developed and produced by DeWitt: mechanical and skeletonized manually-wound movement integrating a Tourbillon manufactured by DeWitt, hand-finished, 72-hour power reserve, 18,000 vph, variable-inertia balance, Straumann Hairspring® spiral with Phillips curve sequenced at 2.5 Hz., 44° angle escapement, 19 jewels, 185 components, carved-out main plate, sand-brushed nickel silver base colored in pearly white, skeletonized “W” logo positioned at 9 O’clock. Angled, polished, and satin-finished case, plate, bridges, wheels and miniature screws. 18-carat yellow gold balance and escapement wheel. Hand-made by a single watchmaker.

Lot No. 17, Hublot Red and Black Skeleton Tourbillon For Only Watch.  EUR 100,000

“Classic Fusion,” polished and satin-finished black ceramic bezel, red ceramic with 6 H-shaped titanium screws, crystal sapphire with interior/exterior anti-reflective coating, and metallised silver logo, bezel lug black composite resin, crown polished black ceramic with Hublot logo, caseback polished ceramic with sapphire crystal with interior anti-reflective treatment, water-resistance 3 ATM. D. Sapphire with anti-reflective coating on topside/underside, polished black coated indexes, indexes, hands polished, black coated. M. MHUB6010.H1.1, Hand-Wound Skeleton Tourbillon – 5 days of power reserve – entirely conceived, developed and produced in-house by Hublot Manufacture. 155 components, 19 jewels, frequency 21’600 Alt/h, black alligator strap stitched onto black rubber, red stitching.

Lot No. 21, Laurent Ferrier, Galet Classic Tourbillon Double Spirale For Only Watch, EUR 130,000.

C. Three-body, polished, concave lugs, curved bezel, large receded crown, transparent back, sapphire crystals. D. Brown grand feu enamel with a dove, subsidiary seconds. White gold assegai hands. M. Calibre LF 619.01, 23 jewels, manual winding mechanical movement.

Lot No. 25, Patek Philippe Ref. 5004, Titanium Unique Piece For Only Watch, EUR 2,950,000. C. Three-body, solid, polished, sapphire crystal scew-down caseback, case band with 4 correctors, push button in the crown for the split-seconds function and 2 push-buttons to start (at 2) and stop (at 4) the chronograph. Concave bezel, fluted lugs, sapphire crystals. Case and prong buckle in titanium. Water-resistant. D. Solid gold dial plate. Black with hand-guilloché carbon pattern and gold applied Arabic numerals. Subsidiary dials: 30-minute counter and leap year at 3, days of the month at 6, seconds and 24 hours indication at 9, apertures for the days of the week, the months and the moon phases, outer 1/5th seconds track. White gold leaf-shaped hands. M. Cal. CHR 27-70 PS Q, stamped with the Geneva Seal quality hallmark, rhodium-plated, Geneva striping decoration, 28 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, Gyromax® balance, shock absorber, self-compensating Breguet balance spring.

Lot No. 27, Richard Mille Tourbillon Prototype “Yohan Blake,” EUR 350,000.

RICHARD MILLE “TOURBI LLON PROTOTYPE YOHAN BLAKE” FOR ONLY WAT CH This is the very watch worn by Yohan Blake at the 2012 London Olympic Games where he won three medals and also at the Diamond League in Lausanne where he won the 100m and became the second fastest sprinter of all time over distance, beating his personal best. Fine and unique piece, very light, tonneau shaped and curved, case in magnesium WE 54, one-minute tourbillon at 6 O’clock. Complete with presentation box and Certificate.C. Made of magnesium WE 54 alloy with Miarox® treatment. The case is assembled with 12 spline screws in grade 5 titanium. D. FLANGE Green flange and crown, crystal in sapphire with anti-glare treatment. M. MOVEMENT Manual winding extra skeletonised tourbillon with curved baseplate and bridges. MAIN FEATURES Baseplate, bridges and balance clock made of grade 5 titanium, free sprung balance with variable inertia, fast rotating barrel, barrel pawl with progressive recoil, winding barrel teeth and third-wheel pinion with central involute profile. OTHER FEATURES Balance in Glucydur, 2 arms, 4 setting screws, inertia moment 11.50 mg.cm2, angle of lift 53°, frequency: 21,600 vph (3Hz), 19 jewels.

Lot No. 31, Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Traditionelle World Time For Only Watch, EUR 100,000A fine and unique self-winding platinum wristwatch with champlevé enamel dial and world time indication. Accompanied by a box and certificate.C. Exhibition back, secured with screws, water resistance tested to pressure equivalent to 3 bar, “Only Watch 2013, Pièce unique” inscription engraved on the back of the watch. D. 1 central gold dial with hand-engraved seas coated with translucent and opalescent enamel and a map of part of Europe in translucent and opalescent champlevé enamel. City of Monaco symbolized by a round diamond, 1 metal dial with black painted cities, Monaco painted in red. 24 full time zones show in black and 13 quarter-hour or half-hour time zones shown in grey, 1 sapphire dial with 24-hour display and indication of the night zone in red and of the day zone in white, Metal ring with black painted minute circle and appliqued 18K gold hour-markers. M. 2460WT, developed and crafted by Vacheron Constantin, bearing the prestigious Poinçon de Genève (Hallmark of Geneva) 27 jewels, mechanical self-winding, 36.6mm. (11’’’ 1/4) in diameter, 7.55 mm. thick. Approximately 40-hour power reserve, 4Hz (28,800 vibrations/hour), 255 parts.