Phillips’ next thematic sale of wristwatches, which is scheduled to take place on May 14, 2016 in Geneva, is called Start-Stop-Reset. It is an unusual sale in that it only includes chronographs, and even more unusually, the auction exclusively comprises stainless steel chronographs
Please join our Quill & Pad round table discussion on Baselworld 2016. This time we take on some of the same topics that GaryG and his collector group use to the discuss their impressions of a watch fair: best of show, worst of show, watch you would buy with your own money, watch you would buy if money were no object, investment watch, patronage watch, fun watch, and a fantasy money no object watch.
It’s pretty interesting to us to find out what you like to read most, and we hope that it’s interesting for you to read, too – particularly at the end of the old year. For this reason, we bring you the top ten most-clicked posts of 2015 on Quill & Pad. Without further ado, here they are in no particular order.
Scott Rothstein was the ringleader of the third largest Ponzi scheme ever to take place in the USA, reportedly defrauding investors of $1.2 billion. The courts liquidated most of his ill-gotten gains such as supercars, yachts, and vacation houses rather quickly. However, his now-divorced wife, Kim, had hidden a few million dollars’ worth of baubles, which were later uncovered. And which are now up for sale.
U.K. retailer The Watch Gallery has released an interesting one-minute video that very nicely shows a watchmaker dismantling a Rolex 3135 movement. The video reminded me of what a great movement Caliber 3135 is. Its less fancy movement finish and less exclusive image is counterbalanced by the fact that the movement is never likely to be fickle or give any trouble. What else is special about it? Read on to find out.
Among the many highlights of SalonQP 2015 was the “Inside a Second” exhibition of chronographs presented in partnership with the Foundation de la Haute Horlogerie. The exhibition included the George Daniels co-axial four-minute tourbillon with Daniels’ compact chronograph mechanism. And that would have been enough chronograph for me all by itself, but there were many more highlights.
Only Watch, the biennial charity auction on behalf of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research, has firmly established itself as a landmark event on the watch scene. This year’s sixth renewal of the event, serving as the kickoff for the autumn Geneva watch auction week, saw Patek Philippe donating the landmark piece for the event, a blue-dialed, steel-cased Reference 5016A-010, which hammered for more than $7 million.
Rolex has never called out to Joshua Munchow as a watch that he must have or that would be the pinnacle of his collection. He thinks that this is because of the downsides to being the most widely known watch brand in the world: copying and overexposure. So what is it about the new Rolex Day-Date 40 that has turned him into a convert? Read on to find out.
Once in a while on the collector forums, a question is posed: is there anyone in the collector community who has never, ever owned a Rolex? As a general rule, respondents to these queries tend to express disbelief that such a creature could possibly exist given the quality and ubiquity of the brand’s watches. Well, folks, I’m here to tell you that such people do exist, and that I’m one of them. How could it be?
Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977. This was a day of soulful heartbreak as I knew I would sorely miss his voice. Elvis owned a number of wristwatches. Good ones. He liked watches, which anyone can still guess because in almost any photo of The King it is not hard to spy an interesting timepiece on his wrist. So in honor of the day of Elvis’ passing in the year he would have turned 80 were he still alive, I’d like to take a peek at some of the watches he’s owned, as well as one watch he not only owned but helped make famous: the Hamilton Ventura.