I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get to this, but Phillips New York is also offering serial number one of both Philippe Dufour’s Duality and Simplicity, and both are fresh to the market. While the Duality was an ambitious project inspired by a dual-balance pocket watch in the collection of Seth Atwood’s defunct Time Museum, the complexity of the movement led Dufour to make only 10 of his planned 25 examples. This is one of two known in white gold, the other of which achieved $2,056,500 at Phillips New York last year.
The estimate here is $1,000,000 to $2,000,000. Then there’s the Simplicity, in a 37mm rose gold case with a white lacquer dial and Breguet hands, which was seemingly more popular on the smaller 34mm versions. This is the watch that really started it all when it came to obsession over finishing and the growth of the independent market. While it’s not my favorite version of the Simplicity (that goes to his brushed platinum watches or rose gold with grey guilloché dials), if I had the money, I’d buy first and ask questions later. The estimate here is $350,000 to $700,000.