Antiquorum opened its spring auction season in March in New York City with a strong sale of collector’s pocket watches, wristwatches, and clocks. The auction took in $1,649,164 and attracted interest from collectors worldwide. More than 1,800 viewers logged onto Antiquorum’s Web site (www.antiquorum.com) during the auction, and 121 registered to bid online.

The auction was “proof that the market has recovered nicely” from the impact of the events of Sept. 11, 2001, said Antiquorum chairman Osvaldo Patrizzi. “We saw strong prices for important pieces as well as for the medium and more common watches.” Top bids (all from unidentified private collectors) included:

• $272,000 for a Patek Philippe platinum gentleman’s wristwatch (2000), with one-minute tourbillon regulator, astronomic, minute repeating, with retrograde perpetual calendar and moon phases.

• $90,500 for an oversized International Watch Co. (IWC) platinum wristwatch (1993), minute-repeating, self-winding, with 44-hour power reserve, chronograph, perpetual calendar, and moon phases.

• $32,200 for a Gerald Genta 18k yellow gold gentleman’s wristwatch (1990s), astronomic, minute-repeating, self-winding, octagonal, with perpetual calendar and moon phases.