Antiquorum in Switzerland.

A number of rare and beautiful timepieces will be going under the hammer at Antiquorum’s Important Modern and Vintage Timepieces auction, held at Geneva’s luxury Hotel Richemond on Sunday, March 17.

Antiquorum holds approximately 10 watch auctions every year in Geneva, New York and Hong Kong. We have brought you news of some particularly high-grossing auctions on the Watches of Switzerland blog before, so we thought we’d take a look at some of the luxury watches that will be going on sale.

If the lots at Antiquorum’s upcoming auction sell for their top estimate, the sale will bring in millions – although these kinds of sales often make much more than the most generous estimates.

Among the items up for grabs are a number of beautiful ladies’ watches and extremely rare, limited-edition timepieces guaranteed to generate a lot of excitement.

One of the oldest wristwatches in the sale is a stunning ladies’ piece from Cartier, which dates back to 1912. It has a square case made from platinum and is dripping with white and black diamonds, and sapphires. With vintage watches enjoying something of a renaissance, this piece wouldn’t look out of place on the wrist of a Hollywood star on the red carpet today – if they could stretch to the £32,000-£46,000 price tag.

And there’s even more for the ladies with a set of four jewel-encrusted watches from Patek Philippe. Known as Gondolo Cabriolet Butterflies, each of the special dial covers is decorated with a unique butterfly design, set with diamonds and coloured sapphires. They are crafted from 18-carat pink and white gold, and the whole set is estimated to sell for around £140,000.

Also up for auction is a coveted 1971 Rolex Paul Newman Topical Outer Track Oyster Cosmograph. This model will always be associated with the actor-cum-racing driver as he was a huge fan – it’s said he wore his watch right up until his death in 2008. Several factors characterise the Paul Newman dial: first, it has to have a contrasting dial and bezel (in this case a black bezel and ivory dial); block markers instead of lines; and the subdials must feature a cross hair. This particular example is expected to reach between £46,000 and £60,000.

But the highlight of the auction is the extremely rare A. Lange & Söhne Pour le Mérite Tourbillon. Made in 1996, this handsome watch features a fashionable blue dial and boasts a visible one-minute Tourbillon regulator and 36-hour power reserve. It’s estimated that it will sell for something in the region of £130,000 to £200,000, but as it’s the first time a white gold model has come up for auction, it could sell for considerably more. The reason for its impressive value? Only 25 examples of this white gold watch were ever produced.

The hugely popular Antiquorum auctions just go to show that the appetite for luxury watches is showing no signs of slowing down. Of course, if you’d like to add to your own collection, look no further than our Watch Selector, where you can browse our collection of 1,900 watches.

ref: watchesofswitzerland.co.uk