Monaco Revue -- The celebrity and lifestyle magazine with purpose

Social Diary by Candace Durocher

Time to bid on unique timepieces

"What time does the fairy's wand say it is?"

"What hour is it by Prince Albert's thumb?"

Those questions will not seem strange to lucky bidders who will walk away this evening (Sept 20, 2007) with fanciful wristwatches designed by 35 of the world's most prestigious watchmakers.

One can just imagine chronometer enthusiasts counting down the minutes to the start of today's second edition of the Only Watch auction, a highlight of the Monaco Yacht Show.

This biennial super sale of unique and first-in-series watches has rapidly become an international must-do event among lovers of luxury. In 2005, the auction raised

1.9 million euros and organizers are cautiously saying the bids could total as much as three million euros this year. That figure isn't inconceivable when you consider the unique tickers horology aficionados will be vying to call their own.

Among the time-keeping treasures is a Van Cleef & Arpels creation that features a fairy, shaped out of white gold and diamonds, whose wand marks the hours, while one of her wings tells the minutes. Piaget, meanwhile, covered the face of its watch with 78 brilliant-cut diamonds, laid out in the pattern of the thumb print of Prince Albert, Monaco's sovereign and patron of the event.

Patek Philippe has packed one of its popular Nautilus watches in a unique titanium case. Audemars Piguet is offering the first-in-series of its new line, the Royal Oak Offshore Volcano Chronograph, which features lava-hot brilliant orange numerals and hands against a black face. But Glashutte has gone for a more sedate look, using a porcelain dial with a hand-painted depiction of Monaco's Prince's Palace.

The retail value of the pieces, given free of charge to the Only Watch event by the watchmakers, is anywhere between quarter and half a million euros.

"It's an opportunity for manufacturers to showcase some of their best watches and at the same time to act in a benevolent manner," said Brandon Thomas, director of Antiquorum, which is conducting the auction.

Funds raised at the event go towards research to combat Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a genetic illness that strikes mainly young boys, and for which there is no cure to date.

ADD YOUR COMMENTS

Comments to date: 3. Page 1 of 1.

Abbygail, Canada	Posted at 1:50pm on Friday, November 2nd, 2007
Oh my goodness...I couldn't imagine wearing one of those watches...Id be way too scared to break it or lose it.
Brenda, Nice, France	Posted at 1:51am on Friday, September 21st, 2007
Get in line Sandra 'cause I've already staked my claim on it.
Sandra M, Toronto, Canada	Posted at 7:54am on Thursday, September 20th, 2007
I wouldn't mind having the fairy watch for my birthday. I won't be greedy and ask for the one with 78 diamonds. Just the fairy please.

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