Rare Rolex, Patek Philippe and other ‘grail’ watches see sales surge as millennials hit virtual auctions for their luxury shopping fix

Amid the pandemic, auction houses have become virtual one-stop shopping destinations for people buying luxury goods, with watches especially popular

Sotheby’s reported last week that 30 per cent of all its bidders are now under 40, highlighting a growing climate of younger auction clients bidding online

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A rare Patek Philippe Ref. 1518 watch, a model of which the auction house Phillips sold for US$3.6 million in June.

Published: 6:45pm, 19 Sep 2020Updated: 6:45pm, 19 Sep 2020

The world may be in a state of Covid-19 chaos, with growing unemployment, a spiralling death rate and no vaccine on the immediate horizon, but someone just paid US$3.6 million for a pre-owned wristwatch, US$9.2 million for a fancy blue diamond ring, US$84.6 million for a painting, and US$795,000 for a rare bottle of whiskey.

And US$615,000 for a pair of used Nike sneakers worn by Michael Jordan in 1984.

While retailers across America shutter their doors, or open them only to serve a disappointing trickle of customers, auction houses have become virtual one-stop shopping destinations for people buying luxury goods across all categories, thanks to Zoom previews, online-video condition reports and easy online bidding.

One particularly hot category is watches.

Sotheby’s sold a Rolex Daytona “John Player Special” Ref. 6264 for more than US$1.5 million in July.

Last week, Sotheby’s reported a 30 per cent increase in new bidders and buyers across all sales categories so far this year, adding that 30 per cent of all bidders are now under 40. The company’s online auctions for 2020 have exceeded US$285 million, three times its full-year online results for 2019. Its live-streamed auctions in June and July achieved US$1.2 billion in sales, and the category attracting the highest number of new clients, at 42 per cent, has been wristwatches.