What makes Henry Graves Supercomplication the ‘Holy Grail’ of watch collectors?

There must be some good reason why someone would pay a whopping $24million for a timepiece. But this here is no ordinary pocket watch. Which explains why at the Sotheby’s Geneva Autumn 2014 Important Watches auction held on the 11th November, a world record was set in auction sales of most  expensive timepieces, Patek Philippe’s Henry Graves  Supercomplication timepiece, going under the hammer. For over an intense 15 minutes, five bidders vied to possess this masterpiece of craftsmanship. The name of the highest bidder has not been disclosed by Sotheby’s. Interestingly, the previous record in the same category was set in 1999, when Sheikh Saud Bin Mohammed Bin Ali Al-Thani of the Qatari royal family placed the winning bid for $11million to possess this very Henry Graves Supercomplication in Sotheby’s auction.
The story about this watch goes back to 1925, when the New York based banker Henry Graves commissioned the Swiss luxury watch maker Patek Philippe to produce the most complicated watch in the world. Graves had entered into a friendly horology competition with the American automobile manufacturer James Ward Packard to see who could acquire the most complicated timepiece. Graves commissioned Patek Philippe to make such a watch in 1925, and it took the horologist all of eight years to deliver it in 1933. James Packard’s  timepiece was a masterpiece in itself with 10 complications,  and featured a sky chart centred above his home in Ohio, with 500 golden stars. But Henry Graves timepiece was way ahead with 24 complications.

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