One “even more unique” watch to be auctioned at Only Watch 2017 was neither conceived and developed by a watch brand nor by a company that makes watches. It was developed by a ‘Band of Brothers’ from WOSTEP, an international watchmaking school in Neuchâtel, Switzerland that trains watchmakers from all over the world.
For watch lovers, the name “Paul Newman” is associated first and foremost with Rolex, and in particular with a subset of that brand’s Daytona watches with specific dial characteristics, including a recessed outer seconds track and subdials that feature block-shaped hash marks and Art Deco-style Arabic numerals. But what does it mean for these references on the vintage market?
Despite the fact that this particular sale contained a handful of Paul Newman Rolex Daytonas, it was the Richard Mille RM 056 Prototype No. 2 that stole the thunder at Christie’s June 21, 2017 “Watches And American Icons” sale in New York City, hammering for more than $1 million.
This Sotheby’s London auction is part four of a series celebrating the English watch and contains English watches from the mid-seventeenth century all the way up to the 1970s, However, all eyes will certainly be on the prize in this sale: the George Daniels Spring Detent Tourbillon Pocket Watch.
Rare and unusual watches continue to pop up at auction this spring, and here I’d like to highlight a few that caught my eye coming up in the June 21, 2017 “Fine Watches and Wristwatches” London sale at Bonham’s.
Sotheby’s June 2017 Important Watches sale in New York City took in $7.4 million. That’s not a sum to be sneezing at for 310 lots sold, with a sell-through rate of 84.2 percent. I was pleased to see that the top ten list of performers at this auction included Richard Mille and Greubel Forsey in addition to Patek Philippe.
One of the rarest of the rare is going under the hammer at Christie’s June 21, 2017 sale of “Rare Watches and American Icons” in New York City: lot 216 comes from a collector who commissioned this extreme rarity, a timepiece by A.H.C.I. watchmaker Christian Klings.
The Phillips Hong Kong Watch Auction: FOUR particularly interested us due to the presence of a subset of 43 watches for sale called “43 Watches & Encounters: The Laurent Picciotto Collection of Contemporary Watches.” Please enjoy our commentary of the auction results for these timepieces.
The Phillips/Bacs & Russo Hong Kong Watch Auction: FOUR takes place on May 30, 2017. While it includes a large number of Rolex and Patek Philippe models as well as a disarmingly beautiful array of bejeweled timepieces by Cartier and Piaget, most important for me is the 43-piece subset of watches belonging to Chronopassion watch retailer Laurent Picciotto.
In the 1980s you may have read perhaps a few entertaining books by Jackie Collins, who passed away on September 19, 2015 at the age of 77. She was a very wealthy woman after 47 years of publishing bestselling romance novels, and now Bonhams is set to auction her estate of 1,000 lots for an estimated total of $3 million on May 16 and 17, 2017 in Los Angeles, and there are a few interesting watches included. In fact, I’d say surprising watches.