1968 yellow gold Rolex Paul Newman Daytona Reference 6239, sold for $515,492
The Important Watches and Masterworks of Time sales at Sotheby’s Geneva last week ended on a high for the auction house, contributing to year-to-date total Watches sales of $106.7 million, up more than a third on 2018. Covering four centuries of watchmaking history in hundreds of breathtaking timepieces, the lot lists included an intricately detailed hunting clock dating back to 1901 and several vintage Rolex watches.
With interest from 65 countries around the world and particularly strong participation from Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East, the success of the Important Watches sale points to a buoyant international market. The vast majority of bidders (68%) took part in the sale online and 83% of the lot list sold, with over half going for above the top-end estimate, including a 1968 yellow gold version of the iconic triple-dial “Paul Newman” Rolex Daytona, which sold for $515,492.
A gold, enamel and diamond-set hour striking musical double singing bird cage with timepiece made by ... [+]
Much more recent but no less special, a rare pink gold Patek Philippe wristwatch with date, moon phase dial and leap-year indicator made in 2005 was another high-value lot, selling for $503,410, towards the top of its guide price. Six Patek Philippe watches featured on the Top Ten Sales list, the remaining four were all Rolexes.
“Across these last two days of sales, we have seen the full spectrum of today’s watch-collecting market, with 400 timepieces covering 400 years of watchmaking history avidly contested by collectors from around the world,” says Sam Hines, worldwide head of Sotheby’s Watches. “Thanks to the combination of healthy demand, and our keen focus on careful sourcing, sales this year have taken a good stride forward.”
After record-breaking sales in London over the summer, the Masterworks of Time sale featured extraordinary historic timepieces. Bidders bought 92% of the lots available; the highest-priced sale ($1.01 million), a gold, enamel and diamond-set clock styled as a singing birdcage is one of just three made in 1815 by Frères Rocher for the Chinese market.
A pink gold hunting cased clock watch with perpetual calendar, minute repeater, moon phases and ... [+]
In the 30th anniversary month of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the auction honored German watchmaking with an impressive collection of timepieces by A. Lange & Söhne going under the hammer. “The fathers of modern German watchmaking, their trajectory charts that of the German nation, from its birth and prosperity in the 19th century, through the trials of war and schisms, and now entering a new era after reunification,” says Daryn Schnipper, chairman of Sotheby’s International Watch Division.
“It is no exaggeration to say the Lange family changed the face of watchmaking in Germany and beyond,” he goes on. “The results achieved tonight are testament to their extraordinary history and their huge contribution.” To date, Masterworks of Time has sold $15.8 million of rare timepieces.
Masterworks of Time will continue in 2020 in New York and Hong Kong. The five-part auction focuses on a different European center of the watchmaking industry each time, represented by pieces from a collection amassed over a lifetime.
