The PHILLIPS Hong Kong Watch Auction: XXI takes place on 21-23 November 2025, at our West Kowloon headquarters. The auction includes more than 300 of the world's finest watches – and though we are loath to boast, we truly think it's one of the best catalogues we've ever put together. We'll be highlighting a number of the most interesting lots and stories featured in the sale, including all the watches presented below.
– By Logan Baker
There’s a reason certain watches stop you in your tracks before you even know why.
It’s not always the complication, or the pedigree, or the rarity – it’s often the color of the dial and case. Few pairings in watchmaking hit the eye and the heart quite like pink gold against a dark dial. Together, they form one of the most attractive and dramatic combinations in all of watch design.
Color theory helps explain why. Pink gold, with its subtle copper tone, carries both the depth of red and the gentleness of yellow. It radiates warmth. When set against a black dial, the contrast sharpens; every polished surface seems to come alive. Black absorbs light while gold reflects it, creating a dynamic interplay that feels like it's breathing on your wrist.
You see this effect at its most refined in the Patek Philippe Ref. 3970ER-028, a perpetual calendar chronograph cased in 18k pink gold with a black dial and a Breguet numeral at 12 o'clock. One of just five examples created for Patek Philippe’s 2015 Watch Art Grand Exhibition in London at the Saatchi Gallery, it embodies the idea that a great color pairing doesn’t just make a watch more attractive – it helps define it. Against the jet-black dial, the pink-gold case, hands, and hour markers take on an unusual quality, almost glowing from within. It’s rare for a modern Patek to feel this dramatic, and even rarer to find one in its original, double factory-sealed condition.
The same tension – between light and shadow – animates the A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Chronograph Ref. 401.031. Lange’s first-generation 1815 Chronograph wears its pink gold with a certain German sobriety. The black dial tempers the metal’s natural exuberance, giving the watch a calm, almost academic beauty. Released almost two decades later, the second-generation Zeitwerk Ref. 142.031 carries the same spirit forward, its pink-gold frame setting off the deep, architectural black of the dial and digital numerals.
But where black heightens contrast, grey dials bring something subtler to the conversation. The interplay between pink gold and grey is less about drama, more about tone and texture. A grey dial softens the bold gold elements.
The Philippe Dufour Simplicity in pink gold with a grey guilloché dial is the perfect example. Dufour’s finishing has always been about restraint and proportion, and this rare 37mm example – one of only two known in this case/dial configuration – captures that ethos in color form. The grey dial, decorated with a delicate guilloché motif, feels as natural beside the pink-gold case as wood grain against brass.
That same tonal harmony defines the Daniel Roth Tourbillon “Double Face” Ref. 2187 and the Girard-Perregaux Opera Two Ref. 99740, both with grey dials that bring a sophisticated calm to the complexity on display. The Opera Two, a one-of-a-kind minute repeater with Westminster carillon, perpetual calendar, and tourbillon, pairs its intricate mechanics with a subdued grey guilloché surface.
Even when produced in small batches, the appeal of pink gold and dark dials endures. The Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle “Ginza Edition” Ref. 82172/000R-9808, made in just 20 pieces for the opening of the brand’s Tokyo boutique, channels a similar spirit of refinement. Its black guilloché dial is inspired by Japan's famous "Rising Sun" motif.
What unites these watches, beyond their case metal and dial hue, is absolute restraint. The best pink gold pieces with black or grey dials understand the power of contrast without succumbing to extravagance.
Because that’s what happens when you bring lightness and darkness together. There's a special depth to the look, ensuring you have a watch that looks as good in candlelight as it does under the sun.
You can view the complete Phillips Hong Kong Watch Auction: XXI auction catalogue here.