When Antiquorum invites offers for lot one at Geneva’s Grand Hotel Kempinski tomorrow afternoon, it will signal the start of a three-day long feast of wristwatch auctions being staged in the capital by the three leading houses, which will see around 800 timepieces change hands for a combined total of more than $30m.

Antiquorum’s introduction to the winter season’s most important series of watch sales has been heralded by an extensive preview tour in which the 280 varied lots were exhibited to enthusiasts in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei, further emphasising the growing influence of Asia on the collecting market.