The so-called King of Watches is actually the gold pocket watch that Zhou Renguo mentioned once before and which was auctioned for a sky-high price of 130 million yuan.
Taking into account the annual inflation, the value of this gold pocket watch has exceeded 200 million. When Zhou Renguo priced the pocket watch that he gave to Shen Qi, he referred to the standard of the king of watches.
No watch enthusiast would want to miss out on such a world-renowned watch. As long as they have strong enough financial strength, they will definitely give it a try.
So is Zhou Renguo, and so is Tang Qiming.
Both of them are watch enthusiasts, and they have countless watches in their homes. Any one of them is worth more than one million, so this time, they are both friends and enemies.
After Tang Qiming took Tang Qingyan away, Zhou Renguo gave Shen Qi a detailed introduction to Tang Qiming's situation.
Tang Qiming is from Bincheng. His Tang family is not only the richest family in Bincheng, but also has a great reputation in Xia Country. The main business of the Tang family is medicine. They have established more than 30 pharmaceutical factories in Xia Country. The medicines produced each year are not only sold all over Xia Country, but also a large part of them are exported abroad. Even abroad, the Tang family has a certain influence.
Tang Qingyan is a leader among the younger generation of the Tang family. She has been influenced by the family business since childhood and studied pharmacology and medical skills. Now she is the head of the department of Bincheng Second Hospital, so she was deeply touched by what Shen Qi said.
As time went by, more and more people entered the banquet hall, including some who had extremely high status like Tang Qiming.
Shen Qi kept an eye on the movements in the hall, but unfortunately he still didn't see any familiar figures.
Zhou Renguo was also looking for someone. The person he was looking for was Bonnie, a world-class watchmaker. However, the other party did not come either. He must have not arrived yet, or he was delayed by other things.
At half past six, Wang Yuming began to invite everyone to the exhibition venue. However, the order of entering the exhibition venue was also particular. People like Zhou Renguo and Tang Qiming who had received invitations personally sent by Wang Yuming could enter the exhibition venue first, while others had to wait in the banquet hall for a while.
It was not until they entered the exhibition hall that Wang Yuming announced that the watch king would be publicly auctioned tonight. His purpose was to let these truly wealthy and influential people prepare in advance to avoid a dull situation.
Everyone was excited when they heard the news. This is the king of watches, and no watch lover can miss it!
The exhibition venue is very large, with a total of 186 clocks on display. Each clock has a dedicated counter, and next to the counter there is a hostess who is responsible for introducing the origin of the clock.
There is also a sign on the counter with the price indicated on it, which means that the watch is for sale. If someone is willing to buy it and thinks the price is right, they can ask the emcee on the spot. The emcee will guide the other party to sign the purchase contract.
Zhou Renguo's eyes became excited from the moment he entered the venue.
He is a true watch enthusiast. The number of watches in his collection far exceeds the watches on display at this exhibition, but he is still not satisfied. In less than an hour, he spent more than 30 million to buy nine watches of different styles.
Tang Qiming was also busy and bought five watches.
For people like them who really have money and hobbies, this exhibition is a trading event.
When it was nine o'clock in the evening, Wang Yuming appeared again. Behind him were two etiquette ladies pushing a cart with a booth on it. However, it was covered by a piece of red silk, and nothing could be seen on the booth.
Wang Yuming coughed.
"Dear guests, I'm sure many of you have already guessed what is on the stand next to me."
"That's right! It's the watch king everyone has been waiting for!"
As he spoke, Wang Yuming tore off the red silk on the exhibition stand, and a gold pocket watch appeared in front of everyone. People involuntarily took two steps forward, wanting to see this priceless watch with their own eyes.
Even bigwigs like Zhou Renguo and Tang Qiming were no exception. Their eyes fell on the gold pocket watch and they refused to look away.
Wang Yuming was pleased to see everyone’s reaction: This was exactly the result he wanted to see!
"Next, please allow our etiquette lady to introduce the origins of this watch to everyone. Although many people already know a lot about it, this does not prevent us from once again recalling the preciousness of this gold pocket watch!"
The etiquette lady smiled and bowed to everyone, then began to introduce the gold pocket watch.
"This gold pocket watch was commissioned by the greatest watch collector in the United States in 1925. After eight years of design and production, it was finally completed in 1932. It has over 900 parts..."
"In 2015, at a Sotheby's auction, this gold pocket watch fetched a whopping 140 million yuan, making it the most expensive watch in the world, bar none!"
Wang Yuming took two more steps forward. "There's no need to elaborate on the origins of the Biao Wang. Let's get straight to the point. The reserve price for this auction is 100 million yuan, and each bid must be no less than 1 million yuan. To prevent malicious bidding, anyone who places a bid but refuses to pay will be required to pay 10% of the bid!"
"Because the value involved in this auction is too high, friends who want to participate in this auction please come to me to get an auction contract. You can only participate in the auction after signing it."
It is not excessive to sign a contract before participating in an auction. As long as you abide by the rules of the auction, it will be fine. Only those who deliberately break the rules will conflict with the contract.
Ten minutes later, all those who wanted to participate in the auction signed the contract, and as the auctioneer came on stage, the auction officially began.
Tang Qiming was the first to raise his hand, "One hundred and ten million!"
Those who can come here to participate in this exhibition are not ordinary people, and those who are still willing to sign the contract to participate in this auction under such circumstances are those with rich family backgrounds and are willing to pay for this gold pocket watch. Therefore, after Tang Qiming made the offer, someone soon followed suit. In less than a minute, the price rose to 150 million!
One hundred and fifty million is an astronomical figure for 99% of people, and it has also made many bigwigs retreat and dare not raise the price at will.
Zhou Renguo also took action at this time and offered a high price of 160 million.
When Zhou Renguo saw the broken pocket watch that Shen Qi took out in Jincheng, he was willing to offer 200 million to buy it, but Shen Qi told him that he would never sell it, and he was very disappointed.
Now that he has met the real cousin, how could he be stingy?
In Xia Country, there are not many real watch collectors, and Zhou Renguo holds a very high status among them. So after Zhou Renguo started bidding, many people wisely chose to give up, including Tang Qiming.
After a brief silence, a young man lazily raised his hand, "One hundred and seventy million!"
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