A watch that was once owned by the last emperor of China’s Qing Dynasty, whose life formed the basis of Oscar-winning film “The Last Emperor”, sold for a record HK$40 million ($5.1 million) at a Hong Kong auction on Tuesday.
An anonymous buyer bought the rare Patek Philippe watch that had belonged to Aisin-Gioro Puyi. The price did not include the auction house fee. Thomas Perazzi, head of watches at auction house Phillips Asia, told Reuters that it is “the highest result” for any wristwatch that once belonged to an emperor.
It was one of only eight known Patek Philippe Reference 96 Quantieme Lune timepieces and was gifted by Puyi to his Russian interpreter when he was imprisoned by the Soviet Union, the auction house said. It easily beat a pre-sale estimate of $3 million. Other watches owned by emperors and sold at auction include a Patek Philippe timepiece that belonged to the last Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, which sold for $2.9 million in 2017. A Rolex watch that belonged to the last Emperor of Vietnam, Bao Dai, fetched $5 million at an auction in 2017.