Patrizzi became known for his "thematic" auctions, which showcased a particular watchmaker or period in history. He was also among the first to allow clients to follow and bid in auctions online.

As the owner of a private company, Patrizzi handled business his way, and his way served him well. He expanded Antiquorum into a multinational company with about 50 employees and offices in 10 countries. Although he portrays himself as a generous and equitable boss—a man who isn't above changing a lightbulb in a display case—even his supporters say that he can be difficult to deal with. "He has a problem with people who aren't quick," says Mark Schumacher, whom Patrizzi hired as chief operating officer in May. "He is a touchy man. Either you hate him or you love him."

From the start, those who know Patrizzi say, his corporate marriage to Artist House was doomed to fail. After he underwent an aorta replacement several years ago, Patrizzi began to prepare Antiquorum for life without him. Evan Zimmermann, the firm's New York lawyer, connected him with Artist House, a holding company that was looking to expand its portfolio. Artist House bought half of Antiquorum. Patrizzi then promised half of his stake to Zimmermann, whom he viewed as a possible successor, to persuade him to take over Antiquorum's New York office. But Patrizzi also signed a contract to remain chief executive through 2008.

Financial problems soon followed. As a publicly traded company, Artist House is subject to financial controls and regular audits, a requirement that clashed with Patrizzi's more informal—some say sloppy—management style. A full inventory of the company's watches hadn't been conducted since 2003, and accounting records weren't updated properly, according to a report prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers on Antiquorum's behalf. And last winter, employees complained when they didn't receive customary bonuses after the fall auction season.

At a June board meeting during which directors presented a plan to name Zimmermann and an Artist House executive to leadership positions to help oversee Antiquorum's financials, Patrizzi stormed from the room and refused to vote. He bristled at the notion of working under anyone with an inferior knowledge of the watch business. The board made the changes without him. And in what Patrizzi considers a great betrayal, Zimmermann used his vote to give the Japanese a majority.

"After many years, I learned a lot about business," Patrizzi says. "What I did not learn was to protect myself from my friends."

Over the next few weeks, Patrizzi tried to consolidate his power. He fired six employees after finding a secret company blog and emails that he says prove a conspiracy against him. The blog featured a number of doctored photographs, including one of Patrizzi with his head replaced by Darth Vader's.

Artist House says it understood Patrizzi's importance to the business and had no interest in pushing him out. But after weeks of rising tension, including Patrizzi's refusal to follow a board directive to fire his longtime accountant, the board suspended him at an August 2 meeting in Geneva.