Christie's will offer 40 watches in a single evening auction in Hong Kong on Nov. 25, led by a Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon estimated at HK$26.5 million to HK$43 million, according to the auction house's published catalogue.

The sale, called The Iconic 40 Watches Evening Sale, celebrates Christie's 40th anniversary year in Asia and starts at 6 p.m. HKT at the house's Asia headquarters in The Henderson in Central. For collectors and the dealers who supply them, it is one of the biggest tests of top-end demand in Hong Kong's late-November watch season, after strong spring sales in the city.

What Christie's Is Offering

The headline lot is a white gold Patek Philippe reference 6002G-010 Sky Moon Tourbillon, a double-dial watch with 12 complications that include a cathedral minute repeater, a perpetual calendar and a sky chart, according to the lot description.

Two other lots carry eight-figure estimates. A platinum F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain with a ruby dial is estimated at HK$16 million to HK$32 million; Christie's said only 20 of that version were made. A white gold Patek Philippe Celestial reference 6104/12G-010 from about 2017, set with baguette rubies and described as possibly unique and previously unknown, is estimated at HK$12 million to HK$24 million.

Further down the list, a platinum Patek Philippe perpetual calendar chronograph reference 5271/13P-001 set with emeralds is estimated at HK$4.8 million to HK$9.6 million. A specially ordered pink gold Cartier Crash with a black dial carries an estimate of HK$3.8 million to HK$7.6 million.

Those five lots, which Christie's lists as its specialists' selection, have combined low estimates of HK$63.1 million and combined high estimates of HK$116.2 million. Christie's had not published estimates for the rest of the 40 lots in its online overview.

The catalogue leans heavily on Patek Philippe. Christie's said the sale includes the first example at auction of the reference 5213G-012, a minute repeater with retrograde date made in 10 pieces for a 2015 Patek Philippe exhibition in London, and a white gold 5070G-014 chronograph with a salmon dial, of which only five are thought to have been made.

Vintage pieces include a pink gold reference 1518 perpetual calendar chronograph, a model launched in 1942 of which about 58 pink gold examples are known, according to the auction house. Christie's said a reference 2497J second series in the sale was last seen at auction in 2009 and that only about seven examples of the chronograph reference 1579A are known.

Outside Patek Philippe, the sale includes a Richard Mille RM27-02 from a run of 50, an F.P. Journe Centigraphe from the Black Label line, a white gold Rolex "Rainbow" Daytona and a platinum Audemars Piguet "Star Wheel" by John Shaeffer from a series of 10. Alexandre Bigler, a senior vice president and Christie's head of collections for watches, is the specialist named on the sale.

A Crowded Week in Hong Kong

The evening sale sits inside a dense run of Hong Kong auctions. Christie's calendar lists a Magnificent Jewels sale on Nov. 24, with 121 lots in its online catalogue, opening with a run of Cartier pieces that includes "Panthère" jewels estimated from HK$250,000 to HK$800,000. A day-time Important Watches sale, featuring the second part of a collection titled "Kronos: Titans of Time," follows on Nov. 26 at 1 p.m.; Christie's had not yet posted its catalogue. Christie's lists daily viewing in Hong Kong from Nov. 18 to Nov. 25.

Wine buyers get their own sessions. Christie's lists three Hong Kong wine auctions on Nov. 19 and 20, including a single-owner sale from the cellar of Aki Asami and a sale titled "The Grand Cellar," of Burgundy and other wines, along with a handbags auction on Nov. 23.

Phillips, which competes most directly with Christie's for top watch consignments in Asia, holds The Hong Kong Watch Auction: XXIII on Nov. 21 and 22, Haute Time reported. Christie's own calendar also shows a Rare Watches sale in Geneva on Nov. 9, during the Geneva auction week covered here.

The Bar Set in Spring

The estimates will be judged against a strong first half. Sotheby's said its Hong Kong Important Watches auction in April raised HK$414.2 million (US$52.9 million). At Phillips' Hong Kong sale on May 30 and 31, a first series Patek Philippe reference 2499 in pink gold sold for HK$80.37 million, and an F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain "Chine 2010 38" made for China fetched HK$32.97 million, according to Haute Time, which put that two-day sale's total at more than HK$403 million.

The autumn has already produced a record in Hong Kong. A Cartier Cheich, one of five made and the only one in white gold, sold at Sotheby's on Sept. 18 for HK$26.52 million, which Haute Time described as the highest price paid at auction for a Cartier wristwatch.

The Journe ruby-dial Tourbillon Souverain on offer at Christie's has a high estimate just below the May price for the China edition. Bidding in the Iconic 40 sale opens at 6 p.m. on Nov. 25, three days after the Phillips sale ends.