Auctions
UPDATED: Christie’s Important Watches, March 22 Dubai
Basel can be that all-consuming fire sucking up all the air in horological space, but life goes on regardless, and elsewhere in the world, there are treasures one could miss, if we blinked. For instance, Christie’s Important Watches auction happening today, in Dubai, 5pm.
We ran an earlier story highlighting some pieces that we photographed when the watches were on tour in Singapore, you can read that story, here.
No need to hop on a plane to scrutinize the pieces or place one’s bids; you can do all that from Christie’s auction page, here.
Additional auction highlights as follows:
Lot 177: Patek Philippe ref. 1491J CC “Chronograph Compteurs”
• Year of manufacture: 1937
• Movement: Cal. 13’’’’ manual-wind chronograph
• Dial: Asymmetric oversized subsidiary seconds and 30-minute register
• Case: 18k gold 35.1mm in diameter, 10.84mm thick
• Estimated price: US$$500k – US$1 million
[Price realised: US$591k, on the somewhat lower band of a half-million window]
Lot 161: Patek Philippe Ref. 3589/1 Grande Ellipse made for Colonel Muammar Gaddafi
• Year of manufacture: late 1970s
• Movement: automatic Cal. 28-255 C with Geneva Seal
• Dial: hard stone, inscribed with quotation, “Only in times of need will you find freedom, Col Muammar Gaddafi”
• Case: 18K white gold cushion case with white gold Patek Philippe bracelet
• Estimated price: US$25k – US$50k
[Price realised: US$187,5k. More than 3x the highest estimate; a memento from a very different Middle East not so long ago.]
Lot 78: Vacheron Constantin Ref. 6510 US Dollar Coin Watch
• Year of manufacture: 1972
• Movement: manual-wind cal. 1003
• Case: 35mm, 18k gold with snap-on back, hinged within a US 20-dollar coin featuring Lady of Liberty and American bald eagle, dated 1891
• Estimated price: US$6k – US$8k
[Price realised: US$8,125. Applause for ’70s funk.]
LOT 95: ROLEX Tru-Beat Ref. 6556 Retailed by Tiffany & Co.
• Year of manufacture: 1956
• Movement: automatic cal. 1040
• Dial: Signed by Rolex and Tiffany & Co.
• Case: 34mm stainless steel
• Estimated price: US$20k – US$30k
[Price realised: US$32,500. Goose-stepping Rolex does well]
LOT 77: Audemars Piguet Ref. 25831ST Royal Oak Automatique Tourbillon
• Year of manufacture: 1997
• Movement: automatic cal. 2875 with one-minute tourbillon
• Case: 41mm stainless steel
• Estimated price: US$50k – US$100k
[Price realised: US$112,500. Crown-less clears the bar]