Archive Monaco Yacht Show 2011

Only Watch at the 2011 Monaco Yacht Show

2011-09-21 16:07

What: OnlyWatch charity auction
Where: Hôtel Hermitage
When: 23 September at 4pm
Full catalogue

OnlyWatch 2011 at the Monaco Yacht Show

Only Watch is a luxury watch auction held every two years in Monaco during the Yacht Show, under the patronage of HSH Prince Albert II. This year 40 major watchmaking brands will each contribute a unique piece. The auction, to be held by leading horological auction house Antiquorum, will take place at the Hotel Hermitage on 23 September 2011 at 4pm, and all proceeds will go to support research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

In 2009, the highest-selling watch was the Patek Philippe 'Celestial' , which at €535,000 fetched nearly twice the amount bid for the next piece, by upmarket Swiss manufacturers Confrérie Horlogère. But the best news of all is that over €2million was raised for the selected charity.



The Watches

High-end watches represent the apex of the watchmaker's craft. Precision engineering and outstanding design come together to make tiny machines of such finesse and accuracy that it seems almost impossible that they could have been created - not for nothing is God sometimes referred to as the watchmaker of the universe.

And this year's offerings take us back, literally, to the start of time, with the inclusion of a simple ten-minute 'hourglass'. Especially for OnlyWatch, innovative watch designers Ikepod have created a truly beautiful object: a red borosilicate glass version with - instead of the more traditional sand - millions of stainless steel nanoballs. The hourglass was hand-crafted in Basel, bringing it into the context of the great Swiss horological tradition.


^{Ikepod hourglass (lot 23)}

The more conventional watches are no less extraordinary. Hermes have produced 'Le Temps Suspendu' (lot 21) where pressing a button causes the date indicator to disappear and the hands to move to an intermediate time between midnight and - well, who knows when? It's a trick which loses none of its appeal each time it's shown. Vulcain have produced an extraordinary and beautiful skeleton watch (one in which all the moving parts are visible) in pink gold with silver and blue dial and hands (lot 39 - see top picture) ; while famed Geneva watchmakers Frederique Constant are offering a fine boxed 'family' set of four watches - men's, lady's, boy's and girl's (lot 17, below)


^{Frederique Constant (lot number 17)}

What is Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy?

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is a seriously debilitating genetic disorder that affects one in every 3,500 boys, with approximately 250,000 sufferers worldwide. The disease is characterized by a weakening of the muscles, respiratory and cardiac problems, which can become fatal as the child gets older. In Europe there are around 30,000 sufferers of the disease (the same as the population of Monaco) who inevitably require constant care and the special facility needs of disabled people.


^{Luc Pettavino with son Paul, who suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy,
and Rafael Nadal}

Thanks to the generosity and hard work of people such as the participants and sponsors of Only Watch and in particular Luc Pettavino (founder of the Monagasque Association against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (AMM) and the driving force behind Only Watch), great progress is being made in research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and the genes which cause the disease. Since the last edition of Only Watch, in September 2009, €2.5 million have been donated to fifteen scientific partners and their teams, including 90 researchers and clinicians in five countries (France, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States).

The funds collected by past auctions have enabled research to speed up clinical developments on Duchenne muscular dystrophy over the past two years, especially with the starting of several clinical trials on Exon Skipping– a surgical technique which enables the cellular machinery to 'forget' to read that part of the gene which carries the abnormality of the illness.

Luis Garcia, Head of Research at CNRS and his team, is clear about the decisive contribution made by the auction. 'These research paths, different scientific approaches, coordination between the various teams, collaborative efforts and partnerships have all been decisive. In the name of all the researchers and clinicians, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the high-end watchmaking industry for its extraordinary collaboration on this fantastic scientific and human project.'

Participating Watch Brands 2011

Audemars Piguet, Bell & Ross, Blu, Blancpain, Bovet Fleurier, Breguet Montres, Celsius X VI II, Chanel, Chaumet, Chopard, Corum Montres, Cyrus, De Bethune, Delacour, Dewitt, Franck Muller, Frédérique Constant, Girard-Perregaux, Glashutte Original. Harry WInston, Hermès, Hublot, Ikepod, Jaquet Droz, Laurent Ferrier, Louis Vuitton, Maurice Lacroix, MB&F, Montblanc, Patek Philippe, Piaget, Richard Mille, Romain Jerome, Tag Heuer, Ulysse Nardin, Urwerk,Vacheron Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels, Vulcain, and Zenith.