An extraordinarily rare Rolex Daytona ‘Paul Newman’ wristwatch (ref 6239) made in 1969 with highly-coveted ‘tropical’ subsidiary dials was the star of Sotheby’s spring sale of important watches in Geneva on 13 May 2018.
The iconic top lot eclipsed the pre-sale estimate to sell for CHF951,000 or US$947,776 (estimate CHF200,000-400,000 or US$208,000-416,000). The more than 1,000 registrants participating the sale drove the total to CHF6,588,500 or US$6,566,165, an increase of over 26 percent compared with the sale in November last year.
Sam Hines, worldwide head of Sotheby’s Watch Division commented: “Today we saw sustained demand throughout the auction, in particular for the highest quality vintage watches by Rolex and Patek Philippe, as evidenced by a fantastic price for the Rolex Daytona ‘Paul Newman’ with ‘toffee’ registers. We were also very pleased to see strong prices for rare contemporary watches. This sale in Geneva confirms the global interest we saw in Hong Kong and London, and we look forward to our sale of important watches in New York on 25 May.”
Combining watchmaking prowess with the savoir-faire of high jewellery, two watches signed by prestigious jewellery houses achieved among the highest prices in the auction.
One is a superb diamond-set skeletonised tourbillon wristwatch by Graff, made in 2013 and adorned with 188 diamonds, which was sold for CHF555,000 or US$553,119 (doubled the estimate CHF150,000-250,000 or US$156,000-260,000). The complete set by Graff includes a diamond ring, diamond platinum cufflinks and a pen.
The other lot is a rare tourbillon wristwatch in rose gold by Chopard, sold for CHF160,000 or US$159,458 (estimate CHF80,000-120,000 or US$83,500-125,000). The manual winding wristwatch with perpetual calendar was part of a complete set including a diamond ring, diamond and onyx cufflinks and a pen.
Grand total: CHF6,588,500 (US$6,566,165)
Sold by lot: 73.6%
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