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Marteau & Co Is Bringing the Art World Model to Independent Watch Auctions

Founded by Arthur Touchot and Leonard Pictet, the Geneva-based auction house wants to transform the secondary market for collectible timepieces.

In much of the contemporary art world, particularly outside the U.S., resale royalties for artists are a familiar legal and commercial concept. The standard, known as artist’s resale right or droit de suite, is built on the idea that if an artist’s work is resold on the secondary market, the artist should share in the profits. The watch auction market, by comparison, has no equivalent standard. Even as independent watchmakers are discussed using the language of art, with their watches treated as creative works and their names encompassing a major part of the associated cachet, when one of their creations goes on the block, they typically do not benefit financially from the sale.

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But Marteau & Co, a Geneva-based auction house founded last year by Arthur Touchot and Leonard Pictet, is trying to bring art-world logic to independent watchmaking. Its central mechanism is what the company calls the Maker’s Fee, whereby 3 percent of the hammer price, taken from Marteau & Co’s 20 percent buyer’s premium, is paid to the original creator after the watch sells at auction. Sellers pay no commission.

“Artists are guaranteed certain rights when their works are sold at auction, but not watchmakers,” Touchot told Observer. “This felt unfair to me, given that auction houses often present independent watchmakers as artists.” He and Pictet have known each other for over a decade, having become friends in 2015 through their work in the watch industry. Over the years, the two collaborated on launches and client events, eventually becoming neighbors in Geneva before founding Marteau & Co together. Touchot serves as CEO, while Pictet leads the company’s commercial side.

Marteau & Co is still new, but the model has already been tested. Its inaugural sale, The First Strike, was held online in October 2025 and achieved CHF 1.52 million........

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