King Farouk of Egypt’s Patek watch sells for record US$912,500 at Middle East auction
Rolex GMT-Master made for Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum also sells for US$162,500 during Christie’s Dubai auction
A Patek Philippe watch made for King Farouk of Egypt in 1944 was sold to an unidentified buyer for US$912,500 at Christie’s in Dubai on Friday – a record sum for a timepiece auctioned in the Middle East.
The 18ct gold Patek Philippe Ref. 1518 was estimated to be worth as much as US$800,000 by the auction house, which has ended its 23rd auction season in the region.
A Rolex GMT-Master made for Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum was sold for US$162,500, surpassing the estimate of US$120,000 to US$160,000.
The sales total for the auction was US$7.1 million, compared with an estimate of US$5 million to US$8 million.
“It’s very clear there’s an appetite for watches across the region,” said Michael Jeha, managing director of Christie’s Middle East.
Five artists from Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, and Egypt set world auction records at Christie’s postwar and contemporary art sale on Thursday, even though the sales total of US$2.97 million fell short of the low estimate of US$3.1 million.
The most expensive work offered, Une vie singuliere by the late Shafic Abboud of Lebanon, did not sell after bids came in below the low estimate of US$220,000.
Iranian artist Sohrab Sepehri’s Untitled, painted around the 1970s, was the top lot of the night, selling for US$287,500 against an estimate of US$150,000 to US$200,000.