Radar Horológico — 11 November
The day in brief
A 1962 minute repeater received Best of Show in Geneva at the first Concours d'Élégance Horlogère, devoted to vintage Vacheron Constantin watches, and the jury also rewarded seven watches, one per category. In the same city, the Watches for ELA charity sale raised CHF 501,400 and Christie's held the biggest watch auction in its history. In the United Kingdom, Watches of Switzerland sold 15% more in the half-year and raised its outlook. Vacheron Constantin refreshes the Fiftysix, and Gerald Charles celebrates the padel world title of its ambassador, Gemma Triay.
1962 minute repeater wins Best of Show at the first Concours d'Élégance Horlogère
A 1962 minute repeater received the jury's special prize at the first Concours d'Élégance Horlogère on 10 November at the Hôtel Président in Geneva, organised by Vacheron Constantin and Phillips, in association with Bacs & Russo. The jury, chaired by Aurel Bacs and Christian Selmoni, chose from the 34 finalists one winner in each of the seven categories, among them the 1929 pocket chronograph of the Spanish physician Gregorio Marañón, a 1930 pocket watch bearing the crest of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia, which in 1947 crossed Europe via Madrid and Lisbon on its way into exile, and the "Don Pancho", a unique 1940 piece with a minute repeater and retrograde date. Read the full story.
ELA charity sale raises CHF 501,400 as Christie's sets its watch auction record
The 21 unique watches of Watches for ELA, auctioned by Christie's in Geneva on 9 November, raised CHF 501,400 at the hammer for the European Leukodystrophies Association. Zinedine Zidane's Cartier Pasha was knocked down for CHF 80,000, four times its high estimate, and pieces by independent watchmakers such as Felipe Pikullik, Cédric Johner and Kollokium also beat their estimates. The Rare Watches sale, of which the charity auction was part, sold every lot and totalled CHF 47.8 million, the highest figure ever for a Christie's watch auction. Read the full story.
Watches of Switzerland raises its outlook after a 15% rise in half-year sales
The Watches of Switzerland Group, the UK's largest luxury watch retailer, sold £974 million in the first half of its financial year, 15% more than a year earlier, led by the United States, where sales rose 22% at constant currency to £501 million. The group now expects full-year sales to grow by 7% to 10%, against 5% to 10% previously. The announcement lifted the sector's shares: Swatch Group rose 3% on the Swiss stock exchange and Richemont 2.2%. Read the full story.
Vacheron Constantin refreshes the Fiftysix with a grey dial
Vacheron Constantin has presented two new versions of the Fiftysix, with a 40mm steel case and a two-tone grey dial inspired by the sector dials of the 1950s. The Fiftysix Self-Winding has the automatic calibre 1326, with hours, minutes, central seconds and date, a 48-hour power reserve and an openworked 22-carat pink gold oscillating weight, visible through the sapphire caseback. The Fiftysix Complete Calendar uses the automatic calibre 2460 QCL/1, with 308 components and a 40-hour power reserve, day and month apertures, a pointer date and a moon phase that needs adjusting only once every 122 years; the movement bears the Hallmark of Geneva.
Find out more on the brand's website.
Gemma Triay becomes padel world champion with a Gerald Charles on her wrist
Spain's Gemma Triay, an ambassador for Gerald Charles, won the FIP padel World Cup in Doha with the Spanish team, the country's seventh consecutive women's world title; in the final, Spain beat Argentina 2–0. Triay played the competition wearing a Mini Maestro, from the Maestro collection, whose case draws on the codes of Gérald Genta, who founded the brand in Geneva in 2000. A week earlier, the world number one had won the Kuwait Major, her 59th professional title, a record in women's padel.
Find out more on the brand's website.
What deserves attention
Geneva's auction week closed with around 203 million dollars across the three main auction houses, according to WatchPro. At Sotheby's, which sold more than 32 million dollars on 8 and 9 November, the Patek Philippe reference 3970J believed to be the first numbered example reached CHF 2,048,000, and George Daniels' 2001 yellow gold Millennium CHF 1,536,000, more than five times its low estimate. Prices for the most sought-after lots, however, stayed level with autumn 2025 and spring 2026: the growth came mainly from volume. Richemont reports its half-year results on 13 November, and the 84 GPHG-nominated watches remain on show at the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire in Geneva until 15 November.
Comments