Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo will open The Hong Kong Watch Auction: XXIII on 21 and 22 November 2026 at its Asia headquarters in the West Kowloon Cultural District, with the highest pre-sale estimate of any watch auction the house has held in Hong Kong. Nine Patek Philippe wristwatches lead the offering, headed by a 1952 ref. 2499 First Series in yellow gold.

The leading watch belongs to the earliest known sequence of Wenger-cased ref. 2499s and returns to the market after 37 years, estimated at HK$12,000,000 to HK$24,000,000. A 1951 ref. 1518 in pink gold, unseen at auction for 24 years, is estimated at HK$8,000,000 to HK$16,000,000, while a possibly unique platinum ref. 3990P-011 with a salmon dial joins them at the top of the sale. A Sky Moon Tourbillon ref. 5002P and a pink-gold ref. 5303R-001 minute repeater tourbillon retailed by Tiffany & Co. complete the Patek group.

The sale also includes a Rolex Daytona ref. 6239 known as the John Player Special and a one-of-a-kind Cartier Crash, alongside part two of the A Connoisseur's Journey collection. The offering follows a spring season in which a pink-gold ref. 2499 First Series became the most valuable timepiece ever sold in Asia.

Highlights will travel to New York, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taipei during October, then to Geneva from 4 to 8 November and Singapore on 13 and 14 November, before the Hong Kong preview opens daily from 16 to 22 November at the WKCDA Tower in West Kowloon.