We’re talking about one of the largest private collections of the Swiss watch brand, amassed over 25 years – it’s time to hit that trust fund…

13 Million Swatch Collection Comes To Town 3

Paul Dunkel’s collection comprises rare prototypes to tie-ups with artists like Keith Haring and Pop Culture icons like 007.

A Swatch might have been the very first Swiss watch you owned. For Paul Dunkel, it was the start of a million-dollar love affair. For the past 25 years, the European – he’s so private, not much is known of the man – has amassed more than 5,800 watches and memorabilia from the brand. So much so that Sotheby’s Hong Kong has billed his collection as a “superlot”, soon to go under the hammer for the Important Watches Spring Sale on April 7.

In the bunch: limited-edition models; collaborations with art giants like Keith Haring and Kiki Picasso; and exclusive prototypes from as early as 1983 till 2007. Estimated to fetch US$1.3 million (S$1.8 million), this sale follows another big Swatch haul at an auction in 2011 (that one saw the sale of 4,370 pieces for US$6.6 million). You may not be bidding for any, but you can see the collection up close when the whole lot makes a pit stop at The Regent this weekend (11am-6.30pm, admission is free).