NEW YORK—A platinum, perpetual-calendar, minute-repeating tourbillon wristwatch with retrograde date and moon phases sold for $764,500 at this week's auction of fine and rare timepieces at Christie’s, which netted $7.35 million, the highest total ever achieved in the category at Christie's New York.

An anonymous bidder paid more than double the low estimate of $350,000 and well over the high estimate of $550,000 for the highly-coveted Patek Philippe timepiece, manufactured in 1994.

The Tuesday sale of "Important Watches" boasted sell-through rates of 92 percent by lot and 94 percent by value, boosting the global sales total for watches at Christie's to approximately $67.2 million for the year.

"These outstanding results clearly demonstrate Christie's dominance in the global market for fine and rare timepieces," said Aurel Bacs, international co-head for watches at Christie's. "Despite the continued volatility in the financial markets during 2009, all of Christie's sales in this category performed above expectations, with sell-through rates consistently above the 90 percent mark.”

Patek Philippe timepieces led Tuesday’s sale. An 18K gold minute-repeating perpetual-calendar oversize wristwatch with moon phases, manufactured circa 2003, went for $488,500 (estimate $280–350,000), shattering the world record for the model. An 18K gold perpetual-calendar chronograph wristwatch with moon phases, manufactured in 1970, sold for $386,500, besting estimates of $250,000 to $400,000, and a platinum minute-repeating wristwatch with enamel dial, manufactured circa 2007, garnered its high estimate of $350,000.