Hong Kong
China’s last emperor’s watch fetches $6 million at auction
A watch belonging to the last Chinese emperor, Aisin Jioro Bu Yi, has sold for more than $6 million in Hong Kong. Revenues of around $3 million were originally expected.
Published
The watch up for auction is a Patek Philippe model Ref 96 Quantieme Lune with moon phase display.
Patek Philippe
According to the auction house, the last Chinese emperor Pu Yi took the watch to a Soviet prison camp in 1945.
IMAGO/UIG
British auction house Philips was “delighted” by the watch’s sale on Tuesday, which achieved a record price for a watch of its type, according to a press release.
Patek Philippe
Although the last Chinese emperor’s historically valuable watch fetches a high price, it’s not Patek Philippe’s most expensive watch.
Patek Philippe
A replica of the luxury watchmaker’s Grandmaster Chime model fetched $31 million in 2019.
Patek Philippe
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A watch belonging to the last Chinese emperor once sold at auction for $6 million.
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This is the Patek Philippe watch model Ref 96 Quantieme Lune with moon phase display.
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The famous owner of the watch – Pu Yi – was proclaimed emperor at the age of two and became known internationally through the movie “The Last Emperor”.
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.
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(AFP/br)
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