From Cartier’s Crash to Rare Rubies, Bonhams Hong Kong Has Plenty to Tempt Collectors

Some of watchmaking’s most valuable ideas start off looking like mistakes at first. In fact, Cartier’s Crash, with its famously distorted silhouette, makes a compelling argument for getting the geometry gloriously wrong.

A rare diamond-set Crash Squelette, estimated at HK$3.2 million to HK$6.5 million, will lead Bonhams Hong Kong’s November watch auction, where collectors can also expect mechanical marvels from Patek PhilippePatek PhilippeA Swiss watchmaker founded in Geneva in 1839 and widely regarded as among the most prestigious in the world, known for complications, hand finishing, and its slogan about passing watchesGo to Patek Philippe Glossary and Greubel Forsey. The extravagance continues the following day, when an exceptional Burmese ruby and a Cartier sapphire ring inspired by desert dunes take their turn in the spotlight.

Taking place on November 22nd and 23rd, the two sales form part of Bonhams’ global LuxuryLuxuryA lifestyle defined by exceptional quality, craftsmanship, exclusivity, and sophistication, encompassing the finest products, services, and experiences that represent the highest standards of refinement and excellence.Go to Luxury Glossary Week, spanning Hong Kong, New York, and London. We’re very likely to see some very expensive lessons in excess that week. Evidently, good taste has considerable room for eccentricity.

A Century of Cartier, With a Few Mechanical Surprises

Leading the Important Watches: Crash the Ordinary sale on November 22nd is a rare Cartier Crash Squelette, Ref. 3740A, dating to approximately 2015. Estimated at HK$3.2 million to HK$6.5 million, the platinum and diamond-set watch represents an especially elaborate interpretation of the Crash, whose famously distorted silhouette first appeared in London in 1967.

Here, Cartier has taken its unconventional geometry considerably further. The skeletonized movement follows the contours of the asymmetrical case, with Roman numerals incorporated into its architecture. Diamonds trace the exterior and open-worked dial, which lends the whole composition an almost improbable delicacy.

Only 67 examples of this limited editionLimited EditionA product produced in deliberately restricted numbers, often numbered, signed, and distinguished by special materials or design. Limited editions create scarcity, urgency, and desirability, and they are common across watches,Go to Limited Edition Glossary were produced, according to Bonhams, with fewer than three reportedly appearing at auction. Its scarcity is substantial, yes, but any collector will tell you that its most enduring attraction lies in the engineering required to make a mechanical movement conform to such peculiar proportions.

Other Cartier highlights offer a revealing survey of the maison’s design history. A circa-1925 yellow-gold coin watch conceals its dial inside a 1904 double eagle coin, which is estimated at HK$40,000 to HK$80,000. From 1997, on the other hand, comes the Tank Déployante “Driver,” whose unusual orientation recalls early wristwatches designed for motorists, carrying an estimate of HK$50,000 to HK$100,000.

At the more extravagant end is a circa-2010 Cartier Haute Joaillerie Falcon bangle watch, a unique creation in white gold and coloured diamonds, expected to fetch HK$1.5 million to HK$3 million.

In addition to the Cartier extravaganza, a platinum Patek PhilippePatek PhilippeA Swiss watchmaker founded in Geneva in 1839 and widely regarded as among the most prestigious in the world, known for complications, hand finishing, and its slogan about passing watchesGo to Patek Philippe Glossary Ref. 5074P-001 minute repeater perpetual calendar makes an appearance in the catalogue, carrying an estimate of HK$4.1 million to HK$8 million. Its 467-component Calibre R 27 Q notably combines formidable mechanical complexity with an acoustically engineered chiming mechanism.

Richard Mille contributes an RM11-03 “50 Years Jean Todt,” distinguished by its blue-and-white quartz TPT case and estimated at HK$1.9 million to HK$3.8 million. A Greubel Forsey GMT, featuring an inclined tourbillonTourbillonA watch complication invented around 1801 by Abraham-Louis Breguet that rotates the escapement in a cage to counter the effects of gravity on accuracy. Tourbillons are mesmerizing and very difficultGo to Tourbillon Glossary and three-dimensional titanium globe, offers another reminder that watchmakers can make even the straightforward business of displaying a second time zone gloriously complicated.

Extraordinary Stones and the Art of Setting Them

Our attention turns to colored gemstones on November 23rd, when Bonhams stages its Exceptional Jewels and Jadeite sale.

Among the highlights of the collection is a Harry Winston ring centered on a 4.12-carat unheated Burmese ruby classified as “Pigeon’s Blood.” Its vivid red centerpiece sits within an openwork arrangement of pear-shaped and brilliant-cut diamonds, with an estimate of HK$2 million to HK$3.8 million. The stone’s untreated condition and exceptional clarity give collectors considerably more to consider than carat weight alone.

Cartier returns in spectacular fashion with its “Solar Landscape” ring, originally presented in the maison’s 2012 Dépaysement high jewellery collection. A pear-shaped, unheated Sri Lankan padparadscha sapphire weighing more than 10 carats rises from a sculptural platinum setting inspired by desert dunes. Black enamel accents and pavé diamonds frame the stone’s distinctive pinkish-orange colour. Bonhams projects the eventual sale to be anywhere between HK$2.8 million and HK$3.6 million.

Equally intriguing is an 8.22-carat Fancy Vivid yellow diamond ring, valued at HK$3.5 million to HK$5 million at pre-auction. Its old European cut, associated with jewelry from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, produces a softer play of light than the cutting styles typically favored for modern colored diamonds. A Mozambican Paraíba-type tourmaline weighing approximately 31.3 carats also introduces another extraordinary display of color, carrying an estimate of HK$3.2 million to HK$4.2 million.

As for collectors who favor a bit more of historical design, a circa-1969 Van Cleef & Arpels “À Cheval” necklace offers a different proposition. Three rows of diamonds support a detachable pendant centered on a 9.82-caratCaratCarat refers to the unit of weight used to measure gemstones and precious metals, with one carat equaling 200 milligrams, directly influencing a stone's overall value. While carat weight mattersGo to Carat Glossary emerald, with articulated construction allowing the necklace to follow the contours of the neck. Its estimate stands at HK$2.5 million to HK$3.5 million.

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