SJX Watches
Up Close: The Imperial Patek Philippe Owned by the Last Emperor of China
With the Geneva auctions just having concluded, the spring sale season now moves to Hong Kong. The biggest event during auction week in the city will undoubtedly The Imperial Patek Philippe Sale, an evening sale that take places at Phillips on May 23. The auction gets its name from the Patek Philippe Calatrava ref. 96QL in platinum once owned by Aisin-Gioro Puyi, the last Emperor of China. Known to the market for several years but now going under the hammer for the first time, the watch might emerge as the year’s most valuable watch sold at auction – or it might not, given the mixed reputation of the final Qing Emperor. But regardless of the value, the Puyi’s Patek Philippe is an exceptionally interesting watch, both intrinsically and in terms of provenance. The provenance Phillips pulled out all the stops in marketing The Imperial Patek Philippe Sale, no doubt an attempt to reach an audience beyond watch collectors. While the ref. 96QL is an exceedingly rare watch – and worth millions on its own – the provenance of this example is bona fide “Imperial”. The story of the watch is ably told in a documentary produced by Phillips especially for the auction. The 17-minute film explains how the life and times of Puyi, his fascination with timepieces, and importantly, how the ref. 96QL ended up in the possession of a Russian translator. Amongst the interviewees in the film is Russell Working, an American journalist who once profiled the Russian translator, Georgy Pe...
