Monaco Now - Only Watch: charity auction featuring unique watches!

Founded and organised in Monaco, the one-of-a-kind Only Watch auction has been helping to fund medical research since 2005.

Thanks to Only Watch, leading watchmakers have been supporting research into treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy since 2005, via an auction of unique watches. Exceptional timepieces from Hermès, Chanel Horlogerie, Patek Philippe, Tudor, Frédérique Constant and more are designed and donated by the watchmakers, and exhibited in Monaco, at the Monaco Yacht Show, then in Tokyo, Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong before being sold at auction in Geneva.

Now established as a key event on the international watchmaking calendar, Only Watch has raised more than 70 million euro since 2005. The charity event, which is run under the high patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco, was founded and is organised by Luc Pettavino, President of the Association Monégasque contre les Myopathies (Monegasque Association for Research Against Muscular Dystrophies).

“Auction after auction, this initiative shows that empathy, altruism and mutual respect as part of a collective effort have extraordinary power and offer hope in a rapidly changing world,” says the Monegasque national. Luc founded Only Watch for his son, who suffered from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic neuromuscular condition which affects around 1 in 3,000 boys at birth.

More than 99% of the funds raised by Only Watch are used for research. The money raised has enabled the Association Monégasque contre les Myopathies to create and fund two biotech companies. “We are getting ready to begin a clinical trial, the design of which was submitted to the French regulatory authorities in advance. Regulatory toxicity testing began in summer 2021. If all goes well, the first trials involving patients will begin in early 2022,” explains Luc.

The 9^th Only Watch event, which came to a close in November 2021 in Geneva under the hammer at Christie’s, raised 28.5 million euros for the Monegasque Myopathies Association.

The 2019 record was not broken – the Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime, which was sold for 28 million euros in 2019, then became the most expensive watch in the world.

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Only Watch

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