A watch belonging to the last emperor of China sold for 6 million

A watch belonging to China’s last emperor has sold for six million dollars (about 5.4 million francs) in Hong Kong. British auction house Phillips remained “upbeat” on Tuesday Selling watches from Manufactured by Patek PhilippeAccording to a press release, it reached a record amount for a watch of its type.

The auction was expected to fetch about $3 million. However, after about five minutes of bidding, the watch sold for around $6.2 million.

A Russian interpreter was monitoring

The Ref 96 Quantieme Lune model with a moon phase display was once owned by Aisin Jioro Bu Yi, the last emperor of China’s Qing Dynasty. According to the auction house, Pu Yi took the watch to a Soviet prison camp in 1945. When he left the camp, he handed the watch over to his Russian interpreter for safekeeping.

Emperor Pu Yi of China ascended the throne in 1908 when he was two years old. His fate was made known worldwide by Bernardo Bertolucci’s film “The Last Emperor,” which won nine Oscars.

He fell in the revolution at the age of 6

Pu Yi was overthrown in 1912 at the age of six during the Qinghai Revolution. 20 years later, Japan made him head of the puppet state of Manchukuo. After Japan’s defeat in the war, Pu Yi was captured in 1945 and taken to a Soviet prison camp.

Although the last Chinese emperor’s historically valuable watch fetches a high price, it’s not Patek Philippe’s most expensive watch. A replica of the luxury watchmaker’s Grandmaster Chime model fetched $31 million in 2019.

(AFP/br)See comments