Watch of China's last Qing Dynasty emperor fetches record $6.2M at auction

By Necva Tastan

ISTANBUL (AA) - A watch belonging to the last emperor of China's Qing Dynasty, which lasted nearly 300 years before ending in 1911, sold for a record $6.2 million on Tuesday in a Hong Kong-based auction.

The watch, which was previously owned by Aisin-Gioro Puyi, the final emperor of the historic dynasty, is a highly valuable and unique watch made of platinum, featuring pink gold, enamel Arabic numerals, small seconds, moon phases, and various historically significant and rare elements.

“Back in the Manchukuo period, Puyi wore this exceptional watch day to day. I was particularly fond of it, not only because of its superb quality, but also the fact that it was such a personal item of Puyi!” said Aisin-Gioro Yuyan, Puyi’s nephew, in a description of the watch on the website of UK-based Phillips, which handled the auction.

After World War II, Puyi and his nephew were captured by the Soviet army and taken to the USSR’s Khabarovsk prison camp, accused of being war criminals.

The Patek Phillippe watch later passed into the hands of a Soviet officer and was left to his heirs.

The watch was manufactured in 1937 under the Patek Phillippe brand and was sold to a telephone bidder in Hong Kong, who was not identified.