A steel watch from a small workshop just sold for over a million dollars
A Voutilainen 28Sport made more than four times its high estimate at Phillips in New York. What that says about independent watchmaking.
On 9 October 2026, the last lot to grab attention at Phillips' online New York Sessions sale was not a vintage icon from one of the big Geneva houses. It was a stainless steel wristwatch made five years ago by an independent watchmaker with a workshop in Môtiers, in the Val-de-Travers.
Lot 22, a Voutilainen 28Sport numbered 5 of 8, sold for $1,016,000 including buyer's premium, against an estimate of $120,000 to $240,000. That is more than four times the high estimate. Phillips described it as coming from its original owner with its 2021 certificate, and all 88 lots in the sale found buyers.
Who is Kari Voutilainen?
Voutilainen was born in Finland in 1962 and went independent in 2002, setting up his workshop in Môtiers. His watches are known for very high hand finishing, guilloché dials engraved on old rose-engine machines, and movements made largely in-house. The "28" points to his in-house Calibre 28, which first appeared in the Vingt-8 in 2011.
Output is tiny by industry standards: a few dozen watches a year, not thousands. A limited edition of eight in steel is, from a collector's point of view, very scarce.
Why steel, and why this much?
For most of the twentieth century, steel was the "everyday" metal and gold the precious one. Over the last fifteen years or so, that has flipped for certain collectible watches. Steel versions of high-end pieces were often made in smaller numbers, so they tend to be rarer, and collectors now pay accordingly.
On top of that comes the wider rise of independent watchmakers at auction. Names that were known mainly to enthusiasts a decade ago now regularly set results that used to be reserved for the most famous houses. At the same Phillips sale, two F.P. Journe watches also went well over their estimates. Several market reports read the pattern the same way: when a maker produces very few watches and demand keeps growing, auctions are where the pressure shows.
A note of caution
Auction prices are real money, but they are a single data point. One buyer and one under-bidder can set a record that no one else would pay. Online timed sales, like this one, can also see sharp jumps in the final minutes. A result like this tells you what two determined collectors thought one specific watch was worth on one day. It does not set a fixed value for every watch the maker has ever made.
Why it matters at the bench
For people who love the craft, the interesting part is not the number itself. It is what is being paid for: hours of hand finishing, traditional techniques like guilloché, and the knowledge that a named person made the thing. That is a big shift from a market that, for decades, mostly valued brand names. It suggests that hand skill, the slow, careful kind learned over years at the bench, is being valued again.
Lot details
| Reference / edition | |
|---|---|
| Model | 28Sport Limited Edition |
| Edition | No. 5 of 8 in stainless steel |
| Year | Circa 2021 |
| Case | |
| Material | Stainless steel |
| Diameter | 39 mm |
| Dial | |
| Dial | Onyx centre with blue guilloché hour track |
| Movement | |
| Calibre | Cal. 28, manual winding, 21 jewels |
| Movement no. | 28-272 |
| Strap | |
| Strap | Leather; stainless steel Voutilainen pin buckle |
| Sale | |
| Estimate | USD 120,000–240,000 |
| Sold for | USD 1,016,000 |
Specifications per brand: Phillips, lot 22, The New York Sessions Fall 2026.