Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo lacked a huge headline watch to capture attention ahead of last week’s Hong Kong Watch Auction XI, but the scarcity of Patek Philippe complications meant there were plenty of six figure sales and 83% of the lots sold for above their pre-sale low estimates.

There was also a 12% increase in the number of participants from the spring fairs, with 1,600 bidders from  60 countries bidding in sale room, on the phone, with advance bids and online.

Eight out of the top ten prices paid at the auction were for Patek Philippe watches, with Rolex and Richard Mille making up the remainder.

“The approach of Phillips to select the highest quality and to attribute the most intelligent estimates was appreciated by the watch community who reacted with fierce bidding. Patek Philippe models once again dominated the top lots, led by reference 5104,” say Aurel Bacs, senior consultant and Thomas Perazzi, head of watches, Asia, for Phillips in a joint statement.

The highest price of $585,144 was paid for a 2012 Patek Philippe Ref. 5104 in platinum and pink gold — a semi-skeletonised minute repeating perpetual calendar wristwatch with small seconds, retrograde date, moon phases and leap year.

And there was considerable demand for a single-owner’s collection of historically important Panerai watches, which sold for a total of $683,481, over four times the more than their combined pre-sale estimates.

Top prices from the Hong Kong Watch Auction XI (described by Phillips):