Auction legend Osvaldo Patrizzi discusses the formative days of modern watch collecting

Within the watch auction world, there is no one else who can match Osvaldo’s contribution to and influence on the watch collecting world. In fact, it’s fair to say that Osvaldo Patrizzi really pioneered watch collecting and the auction market, significantly contributing to today’s demand for luxury watches.

In 1974, Osvaldo Patrizzi founded Antiquorum and built it into the world’s leading auction house for fine timepieces and an important source for watch collectors. Antiquorum has achieved countless world records in sales of watches, clocks, and other timekeeping devices at auction. 

He was also an internet pioneer and Antiquorum was the first auction house to take its watch auctions online. Always ahead of the curve, Antiquorum opened an office in Hong Kong in 1979, many years before any other international auction house opened in Asia.

Osvaldo also pioneered the concept of a thematic auction starting in 1989 with one of the most legendary watch auctions, “The Art of Patek Philippe” in which over 300 timepieces were auctioned including a then world record for the most complicated timepiece ever made, the Calibre 89 which sold for $3.2 million, a truly unprecedented sum in the 1980s.

Not only is Osvaldo Patrizzi a great scholar of watchmaking and has authored many books on the subject, but he also gathered and nurtured some of the greatest watch experts.

In 2000, he was named to be among the 20 most influential people in the field of horology in the 20th century.

In this interview with John Reardon, Osvaldo Patrizzi discusses his long career in the watch industry and his many innovations within the auction and collecting world.