Phillips has published the full catalogue for The New York Watch Auction: XV, a 196-lot sale on 5 and 6 December that the house bills as the highest-value watch auction ever held in the United States. The combined low estimate stands above $25 million, and the public exhibition opens in New York on 2 December after a world tour.

The catalogue is led by F.P. Journe's Tourbillon Souverain 'Souscription' No. 13, a platinum watch from 1999 and one of the first twenty pieces the independent watchmaker sold by subscription to finance his brand. It carries an estimate in excess of $1 million and arrives with its original box and subscription contract. Two more Journe pieces follow it past the million-dollar mark: a pink-gold Tourbillon Souverain made for the fiftieth anniversary of Sincere Fine Watches, and a Grande et Petite Sonnerie estimated at $800,000 to $1.6 million, one of fewer than sixty made between 2006 and 2018.

The vintage section is anchored by a yellow-gold Patek Philippe ref. 1518 from 1950, the first serially produced perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch, estimated at $500,000 to $1 million, and a third-series ref. 2499 from 1972. A yellow-gold Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 6241 with a champagne 'Paul Newman' dial is estimated at $450,000 to $900,000, while a Richard Mille RM52-06 Tourbillon 'Red Mask' and a Philippe Dufour Simplicity No. 60 complete the headline lots.

The sale also hosts the third edition of TimeForArt, a benefit staged with New York's Swiss Institute in support of contemporary art, offering 26 unique pieces without reserve. Its lead lot is a Simon Brette Chronometre Artisans with a Grand Feu enamel dial by Anita Porchet, estimated at $60,000 to $120,000. Phillips says the catalogue shows the breadth of today's watch market, drawing consignments from collectors around the world rather than a single collection.