Our first live auction of 2024, the PHILLIPS Geneva Watch Auction: XIX, takes place on May 11 and 12, at the Hotel President, at Quai Wilson 47 in central Geneva. The auction includes more than 215 of the world's finest watches – and though we are loath to boast, we truly think it's one of the best catalogs we've ever put together. We'll be highlighting a number of the most interesting lots and stories featured in the sale over the next month, including the fascinating Marc Brogsitter timepiece (lot 182) featured in this article.
– By Logan Baker
You might come across a name you don't recognize when reviewing the catalogue for our upcoming Geneva Watch Auction: XIX: Marc Brogsitter (lot 182).
Brogsitter was a watch collector focused on highly classic wristwatches from the 1940s and '50s, often featured Observatory-grade movement. He was not a watchmaker – he was a lawyer in Germany.
In the early 2000s, Brogsitter was struck with the inspiration to create his own watch brand with his name on the dial. He struck up a relationship with a talented young watchmaker working at Gübelin at the time, Karsten Fräßdorf (who eventually started his own brand, Montres KF, in 2016).
The goal of the partnership between Brogsitter and Fräßdorf was to create a collection of watches that matched the quality and aesthetics of the former's beloved mid-century wristwatches.
Unfortunately their collaboration wasn't long for the world. It's estimated that no more than 10 watches were finished and delivered in the few years Brogsitter financed the operation before shutting it down.
Appearing for the first time in the auction market, we're proud to offer one of the very few completed Brogsitter watches, consigned to us by the family of Brogsitter, who unfortunately passed away a few years ago.
Brogsitter and Fräßdorf produced two different models in their brief run, one with a constant-force escapement, the other with a tourbillon, each with their own unique case design. The example featured in the upcoming Phillips Geneva Watch Auction: XIX is the tourbillon model, featuring a case made of 18k white gold and comes in a large, baroque rectangular case with flattened, teardrop lugs.
The star of the show, however, is the movement. The duo were joined by another watchmaker, Urs Gottscheu, whom like Fräßdorf had worked at Gübelin under the genius of Richard Daners. The team decided to create the movements from the ground up and not work from pre-existing ebauches, the technical aspects were the responsibility of the watchmakers whilst Brogsitter impulsed the design.
The resulting shaped, manual-wind caliber 794T is a stunning example of traditional watchmaking, featuring an extra-large tourbillon cage that measures a massive 17mm across with an extra-slow beat rate. The only other watches using rectangular tourbillon movements that we're aware of from the 21st century come from Patek Philippe – pretty good company.
When Brogsitter began to show off a prototype of the watch at Baselworld 2005, he attracted the attention of none other than Mr. Philippe Dufour, who quickly drew in other watchmakers and collectors.