Yahoo Finance Only Watch Is Back and Founder Luc Pettavino Says the Embattled Auction ‘Won’t Be Silenced’
Luc Pettavino, founder of the Only Watch auction, says the organization has been fully exonerated by a certified audit process that started last fall, and is back on track for its biennial sale, now set for May 10 at the Palexpo in Geneva. Patek Philippe is participating, as are most of the brands that agreed to participate before the auction was postponed – it was originally scheduled to happen November 2023. Fifteen of the lots that appeared in the original print catalog for the auction, however, remain withdrawn from the auction, which we reported on last week.
The audit was conducted in response to comments by online publications and collectors on social media casting doubt on the financial regularity of the Association Monégasque Contre les Myopathies (AMM), the non-profit organization behind the Only Watch auctions, which have raised around €100 million for research into treatments and a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Only Watch auction was established in 2001 by Pettavino, whose son, Paul, was diagnosed with the disease at age four, and who passed away in 2017 at the age of 20.
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In an exclusive interview with Robb Report, Pettavino recounts what he felt were inflammatory statements made about him and the AMM:
“The social network can be a source of great interest. You can improve your knowledge of many things, but the price to pay sometimes is that whenever something inflammatory goes out, it can spread. You see your name in something, and even though you might be at, say, the North Pole, somebody is saying that you’re at the South Pole with penguins … and you’re like, ‘Okay, it’s a nice thing, but I know where I am.’ For us, the idea was to be really heads-down as soon as we saw that there were questions to be addressed and work to be done. Now that we have completed the audit and established a new structure, we are relieved to be able to continue our mission.”
The audit, which was conducted by Christian Boisson from the Grant Thornton firm “certifies the financial statements for the last three years and states that the financial situation we have presented is true and fair,” said Pettavino in an earlier statement, in which he also warned: “Should there be any further attacks of this kind, our lawyers are ready to respond. Our natural kindness is now coupled with legitimate vigilance.”
When asked if there was pressure from the watch brands to conduct the audit, he says “No, no, no. There was no pressure, honestly. The behavior of the people supporting OnlyWatch was extremely friendly. In fact, they were always offering to help, lend their support. It was very much to say, ‘Okay, these things can happen. We see you’re a small entity. If you need us, if you want somebody to review your operation, if you want somebody to help, we’re here.’ Many of these brands, they have full structures. So it was not a question of pressure, it was a question of letting us know that when and if help was needed, there was always a phone that would be picked up. I’m going to say nobody didn’t pick up at any time. We were not silenced.”
When we queried brands that that did not return their proposed lots to the auction after the audit was made public and the rescheduled date was set, we received nothing to contradict Pettavinc’s above statements. There were, however, a number of brands that declined to comment, some that remained positive about Only Watch, and just one that explained that the unique piece they created was shifted over to a retailer instead.
In fact, Pettavino maintains that an audit was already on the roster for Only Watch for 2023. “Given the money we raised, we knew we needed to have more structure and more substance in terms of external people to review our situation,” he says. “So that was started, and when the crisis came, we just speeded up the process.” Operational and reporting changes going forward will include the release to the public of yearly audited financial statements, reports on the non-profit’s activity and its grantees’ work, and regular communication on the website about the AMM and the work being done. On top of that, two new committees are being established: a strategic partners committee that will include five to seven members, who will have a seat on the board and a role to play in drawing the future of the association; and a scientific committee that will define the scientific vision of the AMM.
“There is nothing we wouldn’t want to share, and we have nothing to hide,” concludes Pettavino. “On the contrary, we are proud of our journey and the possibility of great news to come. We are not obliged to say that we will find a cure. We don’t know. But we strive. We have to hope that our actions will save lives.”
And with that, Pettavino is adamant that the show must go on. There are 47 one-of-a-kind timepieces in the May 10 sale. As usual, the timepieces on this year’s roster are a feast of color and nonconformity. There are several ladies’ watches in the mix, two of which are pendant watches, and one of which is made by Richard Mille. The other was made by Tiffany, a version of its famous bird on a jewel design.
Patek Philippe has donated a unique version in steel of its Grande and Petite Sonnerie, Minute Repeater, with a hand-guilloched dial in a swirling pattern visible beneath a Grand Feu blue green enamel. It is set with 12 baguette-cut diamond hour markers.
Some of the more quirky pieces include Urwerk’s Time-Space Blade, a clock designed in a vertical glass column that illuminates hours, minutes, and seconds, along with the earth’s daily rotational progress in kilometers.
There are several firsts among the donated watches: collector-favorite F.P. Journe created the first all-tantalum watch, the Chronomètre Furtif, with an 18k rose gold movement. Kari Voutilainen, master of thehigh watchmaking finish, made his first cushion-shaped case, with a green dial that is engine-turned by hand.
This year’s sale colors are blue, yellow, orange, red, fuchsia and green, and several lots display all or some of them, including Zenith’s quartet of red, yellow, blue and green Chronomaster Sports models and Hermes’ multi-colored Arceau Le Temps Voyageur, along with the multi-colored case and strap of Bell & Ross’s BR 03 Cyber Rainbow. The last Only Watch auction, held in 2021, was attended by 900 people and raised CHF 30 million (just under $33 million in 2021 US dollars). This year’s sale will be also be limited to a capacity of 900. As a result of research driven by funds from the sales, clinical trials have begun on a promising therapy called SQY51, which helps to repair the mutated parts of the genetic flaw that causes DMD.
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