Our first live auction of 2025, the PHILLIPS Geneva Watch Auction: XXI, takes place on 10 - 11 May, at the Hotel President, at Quai Wilson 47, in central Geneva. The auction includes nearly 200 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 all the watches detailed below.
– By Logan Baker
For over two centuries, the Swiss lever escapement has reigned supreme.
Designed for reliability, durability, and ease of servicing, it became the foundation of nearly every mechanical wristwatch built in the modern era. You’ll find it ticking away inside everything from humble everyday watches to the grandest, most complicated wristwatches. It works. It’s trusted. And for a long time, it seemed like nobody would seriously try to replace it.
But watchmaking is, at its heart, an art of persistence — and a few stubborn, independent voices have spent the past few decades quietly asking a radical question: What if there’s a better way?
Today, we're seeing a slow but meaningful shift. Unusual escapements — long the province of marine chronometers and the occasional historical experiment — are finally finding a home in contemporary wristwatches. It’s still rare, still incredibly difficult, but growing support for independent watchmakers has created the space for true mechanical risk-taking. In a market that now celebrates the handcrafted, the technical, and the uncompromising, the escapement has become a frontier again.
Take Christian Klings’ Desmodromic wristwatch, which uses a pivoted detent escapement he spent four years developing. It throws out the traditional spring return system entirely, relying instead on the escapement wheel itself to reset the detent — a clever and beautifully anachronistic solution rooted in pure chronometer thinking.
Or consider the Urban Jürgensen P8. Here, a pivoted detent escapement — an architecture once thought too fragile for the wrist — is brought to life by a dream team of Derek Pratt, Kari Voutilainen, and Jean-François Mojon. It’s a watch that marries 18th-century theory with 21st-century shock protection and reliability.
At the extreme end of difficulty, you’ll find Charles Frodsham’s Double Impulse Chronometer. Sixteen years in development, it brings George Daniels’ symmetrical, oil-free double impulse escapement to the wrist for the first time. Executed entirely in-house, down to the tiniest steel component, it’s British watchmaking at its most ambitious — and most stubborn.
And then there’s Kari Voutilainen’s Vingt-8, which uses a dual-wheel direct impulse escapement to drive a massive free-sprung balance. F.P. Journe’s Chronomètre à Résonance, too, deserves mention: a technical marvel where two balances beat in resonance, correcting each other in real time.
Even Roger Smith’s Series 1, at first glance a deceptively simple three-hand watch, hides radical thinking beneath its classic lines. The co-axial escapement inside — first developed by George Daniels for Omega — is a direct assault on the weaknesses of the lever, reducing friction and virtually eliminating the need for lubrication at the impulse surfaces.
None of this is easy. None of it is mass-producible. But that’s exactly the point. In a world that once settled on the Swiss lever as “good enough,” these watches prove that true innovation demands patience, obsessive craftsmanship, and a willingness to chase a different kind of perfection.
Lot 113: A Circa 2005 Unique Christian Klings Desmodromic in 18k Pink Gold, With Detent Escapement
Estimate: CHF 70,000 - 140,000
Christian Klings built fewer than 35 watches over a 30-year career, but every one speaks volumes.
At 41.5mm, the pink gold case holds a movement that showcases Klings’ mastery: a shock-resistant, single-beat chronometer escapement with a pivoted detent. But forget the usual spring-return setup. Klings spent four years developing a system where the escapement itself resets the detent. After the impulse, a tooth from the chronometer wheel slides under a return pallet and physically forces the detent back into the locking position — no springs needed. It’s an ultra-rare, brutally elegant solution that draws a straight line from marine chronometers to the wrist.
The "Desmodromic" name hints at Klings’ past life working on Ducati motorcycles, where he learned to appreciate mechanical purity.
Signed on the dial, movement, and buckle, this is the only Desmodromic Klings ever made. The mustard-colored subdials sit deep in a blue vitreous main dial, framed by hand-engraved silver chapter rings. Flip it over and the movement keeps it simple but striking: blue screws, red rubies, and gold chatons pop against a clean sea of hand-finished plates.
Lot 154: A Circa 2013 Urban Jürgensen Ref. 1142 RG C in 18k Pink Gold, With Detent Escapement
Estimate: CHF 30,000 - 60,000
It took a dream team to do what no one had before: bring the detent escapement to a wristwatch.
The detent, or chronometer escapement, ruled marine chronometers for centuries thanks to its low friction and incredible precision. But it was too shock-sensitive for a wrist. Derek Pratt, Jean-François Mojon, and Kari Voutilainen changed that. In 2011, after years of development, they unveiled the Urban Jürgensen caliber P8: a pivoted detent escapement built for the wrist, complete with a patented safety system to guard against shocks.
Pratt first tested the idea in a Unitas movement. Mojon engineered the new caliber. Voutilainen finished, regulated, and assembled the prototypes. The P8 immediately made waves, winning the innovation prize at SIAR in 2011 and topping the GPHG Men's category in 2014.
This 42mm pink gold example pushes things even further. Instead of guilloché, it features a hand-painted enamel dial in three colors — grey, black, and white — sealed under a final “fondant de Genève” transparent enamel layer for a depth and shine you won’t see anywhere else. Even among a planned series of just 20, this piece stands alone: it’s believed to be the only fully finished enamel-dial example ever produced.
Lot 114: A 2025 Charles Frodsham Double Impulse Chronometer Escapement in Titanium
Estimate: CHF 110,000 - 220,000
Charles Frodsham doesn’t move fast. That’s the point.
Sixteen years of development led to the Double Impulse Chronometer wristwatch — the first to bring George Daniels’ symmetrical, oil-free double impulse escapement into a wristwatch. Every part of the movement (and almost everything else) was made by Frodsham’s own hands in England. Only the crystals, springs, jewels, and strap come from outside.
The escapement is the real star. Originally sketched by Breguet, perfected by Daniels, and carried over by Derek Pratt, it delivers impulses directly to the balance through twin escape wheels, keeping friction low and precision high. The free-sprung balance uses a self-compensating balance spring with a raised terminal curve, secured under a custom shock protection system.
This 42mm example breaks new ground again — crafted in titanium. It’s the first of its kind to appear at auction, and one of just three titanium cases believed made so far. The watch keeps the traditional Frodsham style: crisp Roman numerals, twin barrels, and gold train wheels.
It’s British watchmaking at its most stubborn, most ambitious, and best.
Lot 115: A 2021 Kari Voutilainen Vingt-8 in Platinum, With Natural Escapement
Estimate: CHF 80,000 - 160,000
Kari Voutilainen built his name on doing things the right way — by hand, by eye, and always with a twist. The Vingt-8 shows exactly how.
Inside the sleek 39mm platinum case sits Voutilainen’s in-house caliber 28, a movement that looks simple at first glance but hides serious innovation. It uses two escape wheels to deliver direct impulses to the balance, one after the other, cutting down friction and boosting efficiency. It’s an oil-free system where both wheels work in harmony, firing energy straight into a massive free-sprung balance.
Voutilainen didn’t stop there. The balance spring combines a Grossmann inner curve with a Breguet overcoil outer curve, tuning the system for serious precision.
The watch itself feels as good as it looks. The dark grey guilloché dial shimmers with depth, framed by silver Arabic numerals and silver-blue hands. Signed on the case, dial, movement, and buckle. It's delivered with its guarantee and presentation box.
Lot 89: A 2021 Roger Smith Series 1 in 38mm 18k Pink Gold Case and Pink Gold Chapter Ring, With Co-Axial Escapement
Estimate: CHF 150,000 - 300,000
Roger Smith doesn’t build many watches. Maybe 15 leave his Isle of Man workshop each year. Every one carries the legacy of George Daniels — and the co-axial escapement that changed horology forever.
This 38mm pink gold Series 1 shows that philosophy at its purest. Hours, minutes, small seconds. No complications, no distractions. Just mechanical excellence distilled into a round case, with every part handmade and hand-finished by Smith and his tiny team.
At its heart beats Daniels’ co-axial escapement — reimagined and hand-built by Smith. It’s oil-free at the impulse surfaces and reduces friction to a minimum, letting the movement breathe and last longer between service intervals.
This example is special even by Roger Smith standards. Only three pink gold 38mm Series 1s exist, and this is the only one with a matching pink gold engine-turned chapter ring.
The hand-finished guilloché dial, the slim, elegant case, and the crisp, bright movement bring old-world British watchmaking into the modern era without losing a step.
Lot 17: A 2006 F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Resonance in Platinum with Black Mother-of-Pearl Dial, With Double Escapement
Estimate: CHF 200,000 - 400,000
François-Paul Journe built his career by doing what others said couldn’t be done. The Chronomètre à Resonance proves it.
Launched in 2000, it was the first wristwatch to harness resonance: two independent balance wheels, beating side by side, syncing through the air itself. When one speeds up or slows down, it pulls the other into perfect harmony, boosting precision without any mechanical connection.
This 40mm platinum example comes from a special run of just 25 pieces made for Sincere Fine Watches in Singapore. The dial sets it apart: black mother-of-pearl flashes iridescent colors when it hits the light.
The movement, visible through the sapphire caseback, is pure Journe: hand-finished in solid rose gold, laid out to show both independent gear trains feeding the twin balances. The main crown at 12 sets both time zones, while the secondary crown at 4 resets both seconds hands to zero for perfect synchronicity.
Lot 169: A Circa 2002 F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Resonance in Platinum with Pink Dial and Brass Movement, With Double Escapement
Estimate: CHF 120,000 - 240,000
At the heart of the Résonance are two independent balances, each beating in opposite directions, pulling each other into sync through the air itself. The resonance effect cancels out small timing errors, boosting stability and precision without any mechanical connection between the two. No one had ever made it work in a wristwatch before. Journe did.
This example is from one of the earliest and most collectible generations: the "R" series, built from 2000 to around 2004. It features a brass movement, housed in a compact 38mm platinum case.
What makes this piece even rarer is the dial: pink gold, preserved beautifully. Only a handful exist with this configuration.
You can learn more, place a bid, and view the entire Geneva Watch Auction: XXI catalogue right here.
About Phillips In Association With Bacs & Russo
The team of specialists at PHILLIPS Watches is dedicated to an uncompromised approach to quality, transparency, and client service. Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo holds the world record for the most successful watch auction, with its Geneva Watch Auction: XIV having realized $74.5 million in 2021. Over the course of 2021 and 2022, the company sold 100% of the watches offered, a first in the industry, resulting in the highest annual total in history across all the auction houses at $227 million.
About Logan Baker
Logan has spent the past decade reporting on every aspect of the watch business. He joined Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo at the start of 2023 as the department's Senior Editorial Manager. He splits his time between New York and Geneva.
Recommended Reading
How Independent Watchmakers Are Rethinking the Escapement
Why Collectors Are Falling Back in Love With Time-Only Vintage Watches
Inside The Philippe and Elisabeth Dufour Foundation