Sotheby’s and heist-out’s creative teams have entered AREA_51 and discovered some unusual clocks with unknown origins. The rare pieces are undergoing careful tests in a secure facility near Geneva, and will be made available to the public in due course.
This marks the second joint project between the auction giant — which held its first watch sale back in 1980 — and the creative watch group following last year’s impressive “Rough Diamonds” event, where all 24 unique pieces sold out within an hour.
While “Rough Diamonds” focused thematically on treasures from a wine cellar, AREA_51 offers collectors a journey into space with 51 exotic watches priced from 2,000 CHF to 200,000 CHF, in sync with Watches & Wonders 2025.
Among the otherworldly collection is the Audemars Piguet Star Wheel Automatic, a totally unique addition by the iconic watch manufacturers – a pink gold wonder originally made in the 17th century at the request of Pope Alexander VII for a silent bedroom clock. The “watch with no hands” uses three rotating sapphire discs to show time in a striking way, unlike any typical display.
For those attracted to unique materials, the Furlan Marri Disco Volante combines a meteorite dial with a case of tantalum—a metal the brand is now using for the first time, which is known for its durability. Its Caliber 7001 from Peseux reveals bridges that were rebuilt with care, each edge finished by hand and further polished with diamonds in Geneva.
Connoisseurs of vintage styles will appreciate the historically revered manufacturer Patek Philippe’s extraordinarily rare “Butterfly” watch retailed by Asprey, which keeps real butterfly wings intact so that every dial stays one-of-a-kind — the first such item seen at auction in nearly twenty years.
“The most fun was had in playing around with the definition of alien design and its many possibilities. That’s why this Area_51 collection is so eclectic – taking in the bejeweled and the minimalist, the graphic and the sleek, the discreet and the ostentatious,” said Manon Hagie, Sotheby’s Watch Specialist, who led the selection for Area_51.
Visitors may see these pieces starting April 1st at La Salle Trocmé, a venue arranged to look like a crashed UFO research center in Geneva. The three-day event closes with a live sale on April 3rd at 5:00 PM.
