Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo is thrilled to welcome you to The Geneva Sessions, Spring 2026, Online Auction, running from 12:00 PM CET, Thursday, 5 March, to 2:00 PM CET, Thursday, 12 March. The sale features more than 80 high-end luxury wristwatches, ranging from A. Lange & Söhne and F.P. Journe to Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe.
Every season, our specialists comb through the sale to highlight the watches that speak to them most – pieces that might not always be the headliners, but reveal something essential about why we love our jobs. Sometimes it’s a technical breakthrough, sometimes a design detail, sometimes just the way a watch makes you feel when it’s on the wrist.
In this edition of Specialists’ Picks for the Geneva Sessions, Spring 2026, Online Auction, our team shares personal favorites ranging from contemporary independents to 1870s pocket watches.
Lot 52: A 2001 Audemars Piguet Royal Oak City of Sails 'Be Happy - Crew Member' Edition Ref. 25860IS in Titanium and Stainless Steel
Estimate: CHF 20,000 - 40,000
Aurel Bacs, Senior Consultant
I remember when I was younger, I was often thinking, "What watch should I wear to get brownie points with my friends? What watch will impress them?" Those watches were all either too thick or too uncomfortable, and over time, I grew a bit selfish, saying to myself, "All it takes is a watch that pleases me that I find comfortable." And this watch is exactly one of those. It's made out of predominantly titanium, so it's super light. It is 39mm in diameter. It's rather thin for an automatic chronograph with date. It's powered by the calibre 2385, a derivative of the calibre 1185 by Frederic Piguet, only 5.5mm thick. It has a great Yves Klein blue tapisserie dial with yellow accents and hands. And the best part is that this is one of 25 reserved for the crew members of the Be Happy Sail Yacht. So it's wearable, it's rare, it's good-looking, and it's timeless. It takes every box.
Lot 78: A 2022 Greubel Forsey Double Balancier Convexe in Titanium
Estimate: CHF 80,000 - 160,000
Alexandre Ghotbi, Deputy Chairman, Head of Watches, Europe and Middle East
One of my favorite watches in the upcoming Phillips Online Auction is the Greubel Forsey Double Balancier Convexe. As the name indicates, it has a double balance with a differential enabling greater accuracy. It's absolutely gorgeous, one of my favorite designs from the brand. The convexe case sits perfectly on the wrist. It features technical innovation, incredible hand finishing, and is a limited edition of only 66 pieces. It's also super light with the titanium case. I love it.
Lot 17: An 1877 Patek Philippe Single-Button Inking Chronograph Pocket Watch in Silver
Estimate: CHF 5,000 - 10,000
Tiffany To, Head of Sale, Geneva
It's always a delight when a horological treasure lands on your desk, one that you've never seen before, and you learn something new. This is a Patek Philippe Inking Chronograph. It's not a wristwatch nor a pocket watch, but a chronograph stopwatch, so something that measures elapsed time. An inking is a completely novel way of measuring time. You have your ink oil, and you put the ink on the hand. On the stopwatch, there are two hands, one that superimposes the ink and one that actually times. So you press the button on the left, and the pocket watch starts. If you then press the button on the right, a secondary hand deposits ink onto the enamel dial, ensuring you've marked the elapsed time with a little dot.
Made in the 1870s, one can only imagine the events that took place using the stopwatch. Could it have been horse racing, automobile racing, or dog racing? The possibilities are endless. And not only that, this watch was last sold on the market in 2004, and fewer than 20 were made in total.
Lot 28: A 1995 Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Ref. 5050 in 18k Pink Gold
Estimate: CHF 30,000 - 60,000
Marcello de Marco, Senior International Specialist
Let's be honest, this watch is extremely complicated, incredibly balanced, and symmetrical in its dial. And yet nobody talks about it! It's amazingly wearable. It's really an incredible, all-around watch, extremely good value, and fantastic design. Perfecto.
Lot 45: A Circa 2024 Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 Star Wheel Ref. 15212NB in 18k White Gold
Estimate: CHF 30,000 - 60,000
Sophie Furley, Head of Digital Marketing
My specialist pick for this upcoming sale is the Code 11.59 Star Wheel. Now I've chosen this piece because it has a fabulous story behind it. When we look at the dial, it looks highly contemporary, but the mechanism actually dates back to the 1600s and Pope Alexander II, who suffered from the most awful insomnia. Apparently, back then, in the Vatican's sleeping quarters, there were many clocks ticking, keeping him wide awake at night. Now, to make things worse, when he woke up, he had no idea what the time was. So the lovely people at the Vatican decided to order him a new clock, and they asked the Campani brothers in Rome to find a solution to his problems. They came up with an ingenious escapement using a silent crank to silence the ticking. And this wonderful wandering hours complication, as we see here, originally incorporated an oil lamp in the clock, which projected the time onto the Pope's bedroom. Now, this was 1655, remember. So how cool is that, and how cool is this?
Lot 43: A Circa 2008 Cartier Tank Chronographe Monopoussoir Ref. 2846 in 18k Pink Gold
Estimate: CHF 25,000 - 50,000
Marc Ramseier, Intern
My specialist pick is this Cartier Tank Monopusher Chronograph. I selected this watch because it ticks a lot of boxes. For example, it is relatively historically significant. It was a re-edition in 2008 of a 1935 wristwatch. It also comes with mechanical pedigree, since the movement was co-developed by François-Paul Journe, Denis Flageollet, and Vianney Halter. And lastly, it was a limited edition of only 100 pieces in 18k pink gold. All of those details combine into this one extremely beautiful package. I really like this watch.
You can view the complete Phillips Geneva Sessions, Spring 2026, Online Auction catalogue 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.
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Timing Is Everything: The Chronographs in the Phillips Geneva Sessions, Spring 2026, Online Auction