Bidding opened at $250,000 with a bidder sitting in the second row. It steadily climbed, with a mix of phone bidders, online bidders, and bidders sitting in the room. It took a big jump from $430,000 to $600,000, and then continued its climb before slowing down around $800,000. Eventually it cleared the $1 million mark with a bid of $1,010,000, which was offered up with a cheeky smile from the Phillips specialist handling the bid on the phone. Two bidders on the phones continued outdoing one another in increments of $5,000, which garnered some groans from the room. Auctioneer Aurel Bacs even had to ask the specialists on the phones to encourage their bidders to "accelerate things" at one point. Eventually it came down to two bidders on the phones and one bidder online, bidding from Japan. After more than 20 minutes of bidding, the watch eventually hammered at $1,610,000, going to one of the bidders on the phone.

It's a side note, but according to Phillips, the online bids toward the end of this sale are the highest online bids it has ever received for a watch. As I said, it's a side note, but an interesting one.