In an auction held in Hong Kong on Tuesday (May 23), a wristwatch that once belonged to China’s last emperor achieved a price of over USD 5 million. The timepiece, a Patek Philippe Ref 96 Quantieme Lune, features a moon phase design resembling a crown. Originally owned by Aisin-Gioro Puyi, the final emperor of China’s Qing dynasty, the watch garnered significant attention.
Puyi, who ascended the throne at the age of two in 1908, gained worldwide recognition through Bernardo Bertolucci’s Academy Award-winning film, although his legacy remains mixed. After over two decades, he became the puppet leader of Japanese-controlled Manchuria. Following Japan’s defeat in World War II, he was captured in 1945 and imprisoned in a Soviet camp.
British auction house Phillips provided documentation supporting the fact that Puyi carried the watch with him to the prison camp. Initially expected to fetch around USD 3 million, the timepiece attracted spirited bidding and was eventually sold for HK$40 million (approximately USD 5.1 million) in just five minutes. The final price, including commission, totaled approximately USD 6.2 million.
Thomas Perazzi, Phillips’ head of watches in Asia, expressed his delight at this groundbreaking sale, which set records. According to a press release, it marked “the highest result of any Patek Philippe reference 96 ever sold.”
The Ref 96, compared to the extravagant luxury pieces typically found in auction houses, was Patek Philippe’s first complication wristwatch produced in series. Perazzi noted that there are currently only three known examples of this watch worldwide.
According to Aisin-Gioro Yuyuan, Puyi’s nephew, the timepiece was a personal item of the deposed emperor. Puyi entrusted it to his Russian interpreter, Georgy Permyakov, for safekeeping when he departed from the prison camp.
Russell Working, a journalist who interviewed Permyakov more than 20 years ago, revealed that the interpreter, now in his advanced age, had no knowledge of the watch’s value when he retrieved it from his drawer. Working, who was part of the auction house’s research team, described the sudden appearance of the watch after all these years as akin to discovering a treasure chest washed ashore.
In addition to the watch, another item was auctioned—a red paper fan inscribed with a poem by Puyi dedicated to his comrade Permyakov. Surpassing the pre-sale estimate sixfold, it sold for USD 77,800.
While Puyi’s watch holds historical significance, it is not the most expensive timepiece ever sold at auction. In 2019, a Patek Philippe “Grandmaster Chime” achieved a staggering $31 million. Considered the most complex timepiece created by the luxury watchmaker, it features 20 complications.
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