Christie’s Spring Luxury Week in Hong Kong concluded on a high note as the Important Watches live auctions – held over two days on 29 - 30 May – brought in nearly HK$200 million (US$25.6 million) in total watch sales. Combined with results from jewelry, handbags, and wine, the week achieved over HK$724 million (US$92.9 million) across all categories.
A total of 276 lots were offered over the two days, achieving a 90% sell-through rate. Leading the auctions was the F.P. Journe Sonnerie Souveraine wristwatch, which hammered at HK$14.2 million – 3.7 times its estimate – and sold for HK$17.6 million (US$2.3 million) with premiums, making it the most expensive watch sold during this season’s Hong Kong spring auctions.
The following day saw another highlight: a rare 18K gold Rolex wristwatch with a cloisonné enamel dial depicting a Chinese dragon. After intense bidding, it sold for nearly HK$11.9 million (US$1.5 million) to an online buyer.
Auctioneer Liang-Lin Chen hammering
Lot 2291 | F.P. Journe | Sonnerie Souveraine, a stainless steel grande and petite sonnerie minute repeating wristwatch with function selector, power reserve, and bracelet
Manufactured circa 2008
Case: 42 mm
Estimate: HK$3,800,000 - 7,800,000
Hammer Price: HK$14,200,000
Sold: HK$17,557,000
François-Paul Journe is perhaps the most influential watchmaker of the modern era. In just over two decades, his watches have become fixtures at major auctions, regularly appearing alongside long-established names like Patek Philippe and Rolex – no small feat for a brand founded as recently as 1999. Today, F.P. Journe holds the auction record for an independent watchmaker, set by the second wristwatch the brand ever made: a Tourbillon Souverain, which sold for CHF 7.32 million (US$8.3 million) in 2024.
Born in Marseille in 1957, Journe wasn’t a natural student. At 14, his mother sent him to live with his uncle, a vintage clock restorer with a shop in Paris. There, he discovered a talent for horology – and a fascination with 18th-century masters like Abraham-Louis Breguet and Antide Janvier. That early exposure sparked an enduring obsession with mechanical innovation, particularly complications like the tourbillon and resonance. Before long, integrating these ideas into wristwatches became his life’s work.
By 20, he had begun building his first tourbillon pocket watch, a project that took five years. In 1991, he developed a prototype wristwatch featuring both a tourbillon and a remontoir d’égalité – a constant-force mechanism virtually unheard of in wristwatches at the time. But without the capital to launch a brand, he remained behind the scenes.
That changed in 1999. Inspired by Breguet’s 18th-century method of funding production through subscriptions, he launched the Souscription Tourbillon, offering 20 tourbillon wristwatches to early supporters at half the eventual retail price. The project laid the foundation for his eponymous brand, F.P. Journe, founded later that year.
François-Paul Journe
After debuting his first model at the AHCI booth during Basel Fair 1999, Journe returned the following year with a booth of his own and unveiled three now-iconic models: the Tourbillon Souverain, the Chronomètre à Résonance, and a prototype Grande et Petite Sonnerie. The response confirmed what early collectors already knew: a major new voice in haute horlogerie had arrived.
Journe has remained fiercely independent ever since. Even after a minority investment from Cartier, he has maintained full creative control. Today, 95% of F.P. Journe components are produced in-house – from movements to dials to cases – with annual production capped at fewer than 900 watches. Every dial bears the Latin motto “Invenit et Fecit” (“Invented and Made”) – a nod to the brand’s technical integrity and creative autonomy.
Among his most ambitious creations is the Sonnerie Souveraine, a project he developed in secret over six years and protected with 10 patents. Officially launched in 2006, it was met with widespread acclaim and awarded the Aiguille d’Or at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. Journe remains the only watchmaker to win the top prize three times.
The dial bears the Latin motto “Invenit et Fecit”
Produced between 2006 and 2018 in extremely limited numbers – just 60 pieces in total – the Sonnerie Souveraine houses one of the most mechanically ambitious movements ever constructed: a manually wound caliber capable of both minute repeating and grande/petite sonnerie striking – complications once reserved for clocks and pocket watches.
In short, a sonnerie is a watch equipped with an active striking mechanism that automatically chimes the hours and quarters without manual activation. In grande sonnerie mode, the watch strikes both the hours and quarters every 15 minutes; in petite sonnerie, it chimes only the quarters. In contrast, the minute repeater is activated by the wearer, chiming the hours, quarters, and minutes on demand.
The Sonnerie Souveraine is powered by the Calibre 1505 – the first F.P. Journe movement developed and manufactured entirely in the brand’s Geneva workshops. Composed of 582 individual components, the movement is conceived, constructed, and assembled fully in-house. Each example is hand-assembled by a single watchmaker over the course of more than three months.
To activate the minute repeater, the wearer presses the pusher at 2 o’clock. A second pusher at 4 o’clock toggles between grande sonnerie, petite sonnerie, and silent mode, indicated via a sector display on the dial. Most examples were cased in stainless steel, chosen for its superior acoustic properties – though a rare few were made in pink gold, often paired with unique dials.
In place of a serial number, each watch is engraved with the owner’s name
Durability and ease of use were paramount in the development of such a complex caliber. Over the six-year development process, Journe focused not only on technical innovation, but on ensuring the watch could be operated safely – even by someone with no horological experience.
That principle was embedded in the design from the beginning. Chiming watches are notoriously delicate; a simple misstep – like setting the time while the mechanism is chiming – can cause irreversible damage. For the Sonnerie Souveraine, the very first line in the technical specifications read: make it safe to use by an eight-year-old child.
Each example of the Sonnerie Souveraine is also deeply personal both to its maker and to its owner. In place of a serial number, each watch is engraved with the owner’s name, on both the case and movement, and inscribed on the official certificate. According to Journe, such personalization “gives it a soul, a personality, and an identity – all things a watch should have”.
As further proof of his commitment to longevity, each watch was delivered with a custom service kit, including a main spring, balance assembly, crown, stem, lever, crystal, steel bracelet, and additional straps – ensuring the Sonnerie Souveraine could continue to be maintained for decades to come.
Other Highlight Lots:
Lot 2565 | Rolex | Ref. 6100, an 18k gold automatic wristwatch with cloisonné enamel dial depicting a dragon |
King's Art Collection
Manufactured circa 1954
Case: 34 mm
Provenance:
- Purchased from Lot 1621 at Butterfield & Butterfield auction in November 1990, carefully preserved by "King's Art Collection" until now
Estimate upon request (expected to fetch in the region of US$10 million)
Hammer Price: HK$9,500,000
Sold: HK$11,870,000
Lot 2348 | Patek Philippe | Ref. 5016P-018, a platinum minute repeating perpetual calendar tourbillon wristwatch with retrograde date, moon phases, leap year indication and black dial with breguet numerals
Manufactured circa 2009
Case: 36.5 mm
Estimate: HK$3,500,000 - 7,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$5,000,000
Sold: HK$6,300,000
Lot 2626 | Richard Mille | Felipe Massa, Ref. RM004 AH WG, an 18k white gold baguette-cut diamond-set limited edition split seconds chronograph wristwatch with power reserve and torque indication
Number three in a limited edition of ten
Case: 39 x 48 mm
Estimate: HK$3,000,000 - 6,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$4,600,000
Sold: HK$5,796,000
Lot 2347 | Patek Philippe | Ref. 5207R-001, an 18k pink gold minute repeating instantaneous perpetual calendar tourbillon wristwatch with moon phases, leap year and day/night indications
Manufactured circa 2017
Case: 40.5 mm
Estimate: HK$4,000,000 - 8,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$3,900,000
Sold: HK$4,914,000
Lot 2635 | Patek Philippe | Nautilus, Ref. 5980/1400G-010, an 18k white gold and baguette-cut diamond-set automatic flyback chronograph wristwatch with date and bracelet
Manufactured circa 2018
Case: 40.5 mm
Estimate: HK$4,000,000 - 8,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$3,500,000
Sold: HK$4,410,000
Auction Details:
Auction House: Christie's Hong Kong
Sale: Important Watches: Featuring "The Chronicle" and "The Generations" Collections
Date: 28 May 2025
Sale Total: HK$107,018,260
Sale: Important Watches: Featuring "Stories in Time: a Collection of Exceptional Watches"
Date: 29 May 2025
Sale Total: HK$92,709,080