The Henry Graves Supercomplication, referred to as the 'holy grail' of watches, is expected to sell for between £9.4million and £13.5million at auction
Do you have a spare £10million? If so, you could become the proud owner of a spectacularly intricate timepiece dubbed 'the most important watch ever made'.
The Henry Graves Supercomplication was commissioned in 1925 and made by Patek Philippe - the timepiece was only finished eight years later in 1933.
Often referred to as the 'holy grail' of watches, it was the result of a competition between US banker Graves Jr and car firm boss, James Ward Packard.
Graves Jr and Packard, who owned an automobile company that later merged with Studebaker, wanted to see who could commission to most complex watch.
The end product contains 24 complications - features in a timepiece beyond simple hours and minutes.
That figure was only surpassed in 1989 by Patek’s Calibre 89 which has 33 complications and was made to celebrate the company’s 150th anniversary.
But it is still the most complicated watch ever made without the use of a computer.
Sotheby's auction house has dubbed The Henry Graves Supercomplication the 'most important watch in the world', ahead of it going up for auction later this month.
The masterpiece of horology is expected to sell for between £9.4million and £13.5million when it is sold on November 11 in Geneva.
When auctioned in 1999, the watch fetched £6.92million - still a world record for a timepiece. Now, the watch’s Arab owner is ready to sell.
Daryn Schnipper, head of Sotheby’s International Watch Division, told the New York Observer: “I carried it back from Chicago in 1999, and when I held this watch in my hand, I could feel its beating heart.
“This is a force in the watch industry and it feels so perfect, it reaches your nerve endings.
"When you finally see the Mona Lisa, you are blown away by it, and the sensation of the Graves is like this.
"It is one of the wonders of the world.”
