And that makes 10 for Only Watch! Cancelled in November, the tenth edition of the charity auction will finally take place on May 10, 2024 in Geneva, under the high patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco. This year again, 73 watchmakers will participate in the event, with 62 unique lots for sale.
We therefore offer you the opportunity to discover in preview some of the most beautiful watches specially created for Only Watch 2023/2024.
What is Only Watch?
The charitable sale Only Watch was established in 2005, at the initiative of Luc Pettavino, founding president of the Monegasque Association against Myopathies. Since 2001, he had been seeking to raise funds to support therapeutic research against Duchenne myopathy, a genetic disease from which his son Paul (who passed away in 2016 at the age of 21) suffered.
While he was already the head of the Monaco Yacht Show, Luc Pettavino realized that the big names in watchmaking could also contribute to the cause. This is how he came up with the idea of the Only Watch sale, for which the most prestigious houses create unique watches. These lots put up for auction have raised significant sums, with a record set at 38,593,000 Swiss francs (about 38 million euros) in 2019. That same year, the Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime was auctioned for the modest sum of 31 million CHF…
The year 2024 thus marks the tenth edition of Only Watch, to which 73 watchmaking houses have already responded. On May 10, in the aisles of Palexpo, 62 lots are expected to be put up for sale and some watches are already promising to ignite passions.
💡 Looking back at previous editions of Only Watch on Masculin.com :
2015 | 2017 | 2021
Louis Vuitton Tambour Einstein Automata Only Watch 2023
Louis Vuitton is undergoing its metamorphosis, whether it’s through the arrival of Pharrell Williams as artistic director or the announcement of an even more upscale repositioning in the watchmaking segment.
Just as it has just unveiled a new Tambour watch and the removal of 80% of its existing references, the French brand should not go unnoticed at Only Watch. It offers a unique piece, a watch featuring Albert Einstein, which is animated by the in-house caliber LV 525. This movement allows to bring to life the scientist painted by hand on the dial, through 4 distinct animations, as a strand of hair engraved in the steel protrudes generously from the case at 2 o’clock.
A true work of art, this Einstein Automata Only Watch 2023 Tambour is estimated to be around 400,000 euros.
Gérald Genta Mickey Mouse Minute Repeater
The mere mention of the name Gérald Genta makes lovers of watchmaking dream. The famous designer, nicknamed “the Picasso of watchmaking”, has distinguished himself in the past by his astonishing marriage between high-end watchmaking and cartoon characters… and especially the friend Mickey. Thus, for the first participation of the Gérald Genta house in Only Watch, it is not surprising to see the most famous of mice adorn the dial of a watch with an octagonal case.
Just like the model that caused a scandal in 1984, Mickey’s arm moves to indicate the retrograde minutes on a 5 by 5 graduated arc, from 0 to 60. Fans of watch complications will also discover the presence of a minute repeater (which chimes at the exact hour) as well as a jumping hour, positioned at 3 o’clock on the dial.
This unique piece is powered by the GG-001 manufacture caliber, designed under the supervision of Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini within the Louis Vuitton Time Factory. The price of this Gérald Genta watch for Only Watch could reach (or even comfortably exceed) 500,000 euros.
Breguet Marine Hora Mundi x Only Watch
It’s not just the Type XX chronograph at Breguet. If the brand has just unveiled the new version of its legendary watch (and it had also offered a unique piece at Only Watch 2021, sold for 250,000€), it’s with a model from its Marine line that it intends to stand out this year in Geneva.
For this charitable sale, Breguet presents a unique version of its Hora Mundi watch, initially launched in the spring of 2022. Designed for travelers, this watch is notably equipped with a patented movement that allows to change time zones with a simple press of a button.
Several nods to Only Watch make this piece truly unique, like the red luminescent material that covers the hands or the replacement of Paris with Monaco in the 6 o’clock window, indicating the reference city.
De Bethune DW5 Seeking Perfection for Only Watch 23
De Bethune watches have always stood out for their extraordinary aesthetic. This will be the case again at Only Watch, where this unique DW5 piece could see its price exceed 250,000 euros according to early estimates.
This dream watch lives up to its name, as in its quest for perfection, De Bethune has equipped its Dream Watch 5 with a futuristic case made following ancient methods. Indeed, Denis Flaegollet created this mass of iron and steel from iron ore harvested in L’Auberson, roasted, ground, and then forged in his own blast furnace.
The dial has also received special attention, notably hiding a superb lunar phase indicator with a spherical Moon designed from fragments of an iron meteorite. To complete the ensemble, the De Bethune team created a tourbillon movement that can be admired on the back of the watch.
Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Marble
From wrought iron, we move to marble, with this incredible version of the iconic Octo Finissimo by Bvlgari. Since 2013, Bvlgari has made this flying tourbillon the thinnest in the world (only 1.95 mm) and ten years later, the Italian brand wants things to remain engraved in marble. Quite literally, since for Only Watch 2023, it has created a unique piece of its Octo Finissimo Tourbillon, with its 40 mm case and bracelet covered in marble. A thin layer of only 0.5 mm, which takes on a mysterious green hue named Verde di Alpi, referring to the Aosta Valley, where this precious material was extracted.
Bvlgari specifies that its craftsmen needed over 800 hours of work to perfect this watch, particularly to ensure that the marble layer could perfectly cover the whole without the slightest crack. This precision and patience may allow the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Marble’s price to skyrocket beyond 200,000 euros.
TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph
While its Carrera celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2023, one might have expected TAG Heuer to propose an exclusive edition for Only Watch. Missed! The Swiss brand preferred its no less iconic Monaco for the charitable event this fall.
The Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph retains the usual characteristics of the collection, but as a unique edition, it features a few remarkable specifics. Starting with a brand new mechanical split-seconds chronograph movement, the TH81-00, entirely made of titanium and presented by TAG Heuer as its lightest automatic chronograph movement ever produced.
In terms of style, the iconic square case uses a new combination of titanium and sapphire (what the brand calls “textured titanium”), offering unprecedented viewing angles on the movement. With its avant-garde design, this Monaco designed for Only Watch has already been estimated between 150,000 and 300,000 euros.
Frederique Constant Tourbillon Planetarium Only Watch 2023
For Frederique Constant, it’s the watch of all firsts or almost: first manufacture tourbillon with a planetarium, first watch equipped with an aventurine dial and a platinum case, and the first time a Frederique Constant model incorporates a dual date/month display within a single counter.
To achieve such a result, the Geneva-based brand has partnered with Christiaan van der Klaauw, specialist in astronomical watches. The man was already the originator of the first planetarium ever built for a wristwatch in 1999, and the one that equips this unique watch for Only Watch remains the smallest mechanical planetarium in the world. All these elements could allow this model to break the 100,000 euro mark on May 10, 2024.
Bell & Ross BR 03 Cyber Rainbow
Bell & Ross introduces us to its BR03 Cyber Rainbow as “a timepiece with a futuristic and original design”. Hard to say otherwise, even if this already matches many models of the brand!
But for Only Watch 2023, Bell & Ross really did strike hard with this vibrant reinterpretation of the iconic BR 03. If we find the iconic angular case, this one has been reworked, skeletonized, and dressed up in a futuristic décor with the colors of Only Watch 2023. On the dial, the micro-blasted metal bridges are coated with pockets of colored lacquer, while the hands are accentuated with white SLN to ensure optimal readability.
These colors can also be found on the back of the watch, on the oscillating weight of the automatic movement BR-Cal.383 specially designed for this watch and which offers a 48-hour power reserve.
Baltic Premier Perpetual Calendar
It may not be the most spectacular, nor the most expensive (estimates range between 20,000 and 30,000 euros), but this Baltic watch certainly has plenty of features to tempt us.
The young French brand is taking this opportunity to unveil a new entity of high-end watchmaking named Baltic Experiments. But above all, after two years of work, it presents here its first model equipped with its own perpetual calendar!
In an ultra-thin case of 9.8 mm thickness for only 37 mm in diameter, a degrade and grained purple dial hosts 3 counters that display the day of the week, the month, leap year, and the moon phase (with an accuracy of 122 years!). All of this is powered by a Vaucher VMF 5401 movement with a micro-rotor that has a 50-hour power reserve.
Chronodate Gold x Château Angelus
We conclude this selection with a brand that is participating for the first time in Only Watch, Angelus.
The Swiss house has chosen to play with its name by associating with one of the greatest wines of the Bordeaux region, Château Angelus. This collaboration, which seems to flow naturally, has allowed us to create a link between the work needed to develop a watch and the elaboration of a grand cru. Passion, precision, and accuracy have thus guided the watchmakers, notably through the Bordeaux dial, made from freeze-dried lees of the 2022 vintage.
And while this wine powder brings a delicate texture to the dial, a red gold bell, symbol of the Château Angelus, has been applied at 6 o’clock. This bell, it can also be found on the back, where the transparent background allows admiring the oscillating mass in the shape of “A”, surmounting a star.
Finally, to offer an even more unique experience in the context of the charity sale, the Chronodate Gold x Château Angelus watch will be accompanied by an Imperial (a 6l bottle) of the 2012 vintage, 3 bottles of the house’s Grand Vin Blanc (never sold and only offered on rare occasions), as well as an invitation to the Château de St-Emilion.
This is just a preview of the watches up for auction on May 10, 2024 for Only Watch 2023. The Manero Tourbillon Double Peripheral from Carl F. Bucherer, the Astronomia Revolution 4th Dimension from Jacob & Co or the Talisman from Richard Mille, in another vein, are sure to make the counters go wild! A total of 62 lots will be up for sale, with a clearly stated goal: to beat the 2019 record and support Duchenne muscular dystrophy research more than ever before.
❗ Let’s remember that the auction of November 5, 2023 was canceled and postponed to 2024 due to questions raised by the Monegasque Association Against Muscular Dystrophies about the real allocation of the funds collected by Only Watch.