There are expensive watches, and then there are expensive watches. A well preserved 1948 Patek Philippe Reference 1518 pink gold perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch was sold by Sotheby’s this December, and it was just one of the top sales that were seen. What does a price of $9.57 million say?

Of the 281 total examples, only 58 of Ref. 1518 are believed to have been made in pink gold. Those 58 examples are an exceedingly scarce number of examples. This particular watch comes with a unique provenance. It was owned by Egyptian Royalty: the property and estate of Prince Mohammed Tewfik.

According to Sotheby’s, the market has only seen 13 of these ‘pink on pink’ examples and the 14th was sold in this Sotheby’s Auction. Lot 55 was this Patek Philippe (Ref. 1518, image by Sotheby’s) and it originally had an estimate of $1,200,000 to $2,200,000. The sale price of $9,570,900 blew that number out of the water.

Collectors Dashboard evaluates high-end collectibles as an alternative asset class. This means collectibles are attracting the same capital that could have been invested into stocks or bonds. Watches that cost more than $100,000 would easily fit into this them, but any watch over $1 million is an investment category all on its own.

The watch was part of Sotheby’s New York Important Watches sale. The live auction sold the watch. It was a pink gold perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch with moon phases and was made in 1948. It came with 23 jewels and was 35 mm in diameter. And for backing up this provenance, the watch came with its box and with papers. As for the accessories in this high sale: Patek Philippe presentation case, Certificate of Origin dated July 28, 1951, extract from the Archives confirming the date of sale on July 28, 1951, operating instructions and its pouch.

Sotheby’s also gave this particular watch a rather unique write-up that will explain the history and details of this provenance.

Here are the other top prices realized from the auction:

• Lot 148. Patek Philippe Reference 5531R-010 World Time Minute Repeater had an estimate of $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 and sold for $2,198,000.
• Lot 30. Patek Philippe Reference 5208P-001 Retailed by Tiffany & Co had an estimate of $600,000 to $900,000 and sold for $988,000.

Some watches are stocking stuffers. Then there is Patek Philippe as something else in an entirely different class. A sale will always benefit from strong provenance. An Egyptian Prince bought this time piece in 1951 and saved everything about the sale. Only upon his death was it sold. If that is not a case for watches as investment items then investors would have noticed by now.