- Muslim women break taboos navigating east London's waterways
- Nepal dam-building spree powers electric vehicle boom
- More than 60 dead from storm Helene as rescue, cleanup efforts grow
- Dozens missing, 9 dead in migrant boat wreck off Spanish Canaries
- Death toll from Hurricane John hits eight in Mexico
- Storm Helene's toll rises as rescue and cleanup efforts gain pace
- SpaceX launches mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding as cleanup begins
- SpaceX set to launch mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Boeing strike grinds on as latest talks fail to reach agreement
- Iran 'news' sites, hackers target Trump ahead of US election
- US ports brace for potential dockworkers strike
- Japan's speedy, spotless Shinkansen bullet trains turn 60
- US hurricane deaths rise to 44, fears of more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Global stocks mostly rise, cheering Beijing stimulus
- Europe en route for Moon with new simulator, says astronaut Pesquet
- Fireworks forecast if comet survives risky Sun flypast
- Argentina judge orders dictionary to delete pejorative definition of 'Jewish'
- Global stocks rise on rate hopes, Beijing stimulus
- S.African woman turns 118, among the oldest in the world
- UK clears $4 bn AI partnership between Amazon, Anthropic
- Barca fans barred from Champions League away game over racist banner
- Chinese stocks extend surge, Europe higher on Beijing stimulus
- Pope says Church must 'seek forgiveness' for child sexual abuse
- China caps week of 'bazooka' stimulus for ailing economy with rate cut
- Cuts, cash, credit: China bids to jumpstart flagging economy
- France's debt weighs heavier ahead of budget debate
- Iran treads carefully, backing Hezbollah while avoiding war
- Return to sender: waste stranded at sea stirs toxic dispute
- 'Broken' news industry faces uncertain future
- On remote Greek island, migratory birds offer climate clues
- Taken from mother by nuns, victim seeks answers as pope visits Belgium
- China cuts amount banks hold in reserve to boost lending
- Hong Kong, Shanghai extend surge as China optimism boosts markets
- Vietnam president reiterates support for Cuba during official visit
- Drought reduces Amazon River in Colombia by as much as 90%: report
- Stay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate's grim choice
- Florida bracing for 'unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene
- Poverty rises to over 52 percent in Milei's Argentina
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala Harris
- Champagne houses abuzz over English sparkling wine
- Macron, Trudeau pledge to work for 'decarbonized' economies
- Hurricanes, storms, typhoons... Is September wetter than usual?
- China stimulus, tech optimism boost stock markets
- 'Unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene races towards Florida
- Macron meets Trudeau in Canada as both face political setbacks
- South Korea surges in UN innovation index
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala
- Floods threaten Niger's historic 'gateway to the desert'
Watch owned by China's last emperor sells for $6 million
A Patek Philippe wristwatch once owned by China's last emperor sold for more than $6 million at auction in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
The Ref 96 Quantieme Lune timepiece, which boasts a crown-like moon phase, originally belonged to Aisin-Gioro Puyi, the final monarch of the Chinese Qing dynasty.
Emperor at the age of two in 1908, Puyi was immortalised by Bernardo Bertolucci's Oscar-winning film "The Last Emperor," but left a mixed legacy.
More than 20 years after being forced to abdicate, he was installed as the puppet leader of Japanese-occupied Manchuria, before he was captured in 1945 after the fall of Japan and taken to a Soviet prison camp.
British auction house Phillips said it had documentation that showed Puyi had brought the watch with him to the camp.
It was expected to fetch about $3 million but, after about five minutes of spirited bidding, it was sold for HK$40 million ($5.1 million). With the buyer's premium fee, the total price came to about $6.2 million.
Thomas Perazzi, Phillips' head of watches in Asia, said he was "thrilled with this groundbreaking sale" because it set records.
Those records included "the highest result of any Patek Philippe reference 96 ever sold", according to a news release.
The Ref 96 -- austere compared to the usual luxury pieces on sale in auction houses -- was the first "complication wristwatch" serially produced by Patek Philippe, with Perazzi saying there are currently only "three examples known" in the world.
According to the memoir of Puyi's nephew Aisin-Gioro Yuyuan, the watch was a "personal item" of the deposed emperor, who passed it to his Russian interpreter Georgy Permyakov for safe-keeping when he left the prison camp.
Russell Working, a journalist who interviewed Permyakov more than 20 years ago, told AFP that the elderly interpreter had no idea of its value when he pulled the timepiece from his drawer.
"To have this one surface all of a sudden after all these years, it was like a treasure chest washing up on the beach," said Working, who was part of the auction house's research team.
Another item on auction was a red paper fan, inscribed with a poem by Puyi "dedicated to my comrade Permyakov". That fetched more than $77,800 -- six times its pre-sale estimate.
Puyi's watch, while historically significant, is far from the most expensive timepiece ever sold on the auction block.
A Patek Philippe "Grandmaster Chime" sold for $31 million in 2019. It is said to be the most complex timepiece the luxury watchmaker has ever created, with 20 complications.
X.Cheung--CPN