2023-12-06 19:27:00
7,000 buyers from around the world registered on auction platforms to follow the event on the Drouot site.
An unprecedented auction of 162 luxury watches seized for criminal or tax offenses allowed the State to recover nearly 1.5 million euros in the French watchmaking capital on Wednesday in Besançon.
This auction brought together many enthusiasts: the room in the old cloister of the historic center rented by the Agency for the Management and Recovery of Seized and Confiscated Assets (Agrasc) was full to bursting with more than 7,000 buyers from around the world. everyone had registered on the auction platforms to follow the event on drouot.com.
The most prestigious piece, an Aquanaut Travel Time from the prestigious Geneva watch manufacturer Patek Philippe, was sold for 81,200 euros on the internet. Priced at 20,000 euros, the bids rose to 54,000 euros in less than 10 seconds on the internet to finally exceed 81,000 euros.
“These 162 watches were seized or confiscated from people who have committed or are suspected of having committed offenses for fraud, drug trafficking, money laundering and even gold trafficking,” recalls Charlotte Hautemanière, head of the department. Agrasc furniture, which manages sales.
Objective largely exceeded
Hubert, a collector from the Paris region, came with a clear objective: “The strategy is simple, not to exceed 50% in addition to the displayed price. There are revisions of the object to be expected, and the absence of warranty on the watch requires one to be very careful about any products purchased”, estimated this enlightened enthusiast before the start of the auction.
For Cathy, from Besançon, who came to the exhibition of the lots on Wednesday morning, “the price of these watches is a little high considering my capabilities. I still spotted a few models from the Longines brand. I didn’t set my sights on no limits because the dream is priceless. I am interested in beautiful watch mechanisms and I think that watches should be worn,” added the potential buyer.
For this sale, presented as the most important of the year for Rolex watches, the organizers had set themselves the objective of exceeding 400,000 euros. At the end of the day the National Directorate of State Interventions (DNID), which co-organized the event, announced that the total sum of 1.479 million euros (domaine service taxes included) would be paid into the budget of the ‘State.
Most read
1701930540
#Rolex #Patek #Philippe.. #State #recovers #million #euros #sale #seized #luxury #watches