At Sotheby’s Hong Kong, the Important Watches Spring Sale held on April 7 featured “Swatch & Art From The Dunkel Collection”. The Superlot, comprising of more than 5,800 Swatches and Art collected over 25 years, is one of the world’s largest Swatch collections in private hands ever known. The collection sold for an impressive HK$46.7 million (US$6 million) to a European Institution on the phone after over 30 bids from three bidders.
“I have been very happy and emotional to see the international interest in my collection over the past months. This is a true testament to the universal appeal of Swatch. I would like to deeply thank Sotheby’s for their hard work, as well as my art advisor, 1858 Limited, for expertly managing all aspects of the sale on my behalf. I wish the new owner of these 5,800 pieces all the best and hope the collection will bring to others as much joy as I have had with it over the last 25 years of this adventure.” said the seller, Paul Dunkel, after the sale.
Names immortalised in Swatch Art Special collaborations range from artists such as Keith Haring, Mark Kostabi, Sam Francis, Mimmo Paladino, Mimmo Rotella – most of them featured at the Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum and Fondation Maeght – to world phenomena such as the Olympics Games, Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival, the FIFA World Cup and James Bond movies along with their infamous villains. Produced in limited and numbered editions, each Swatch Art Special commemorates a unique occasion, extraordinary event or person.
Another highlight of the sale included a Patek Philippe Pink Gold Minute Repeating Instantaneous Perpetual Calendar Tourbillon Wristwatch Ref 5207R, that sold for HK$4.76 million (US$610,000).
