Auctions
On the Block: A Daniels Trio
Auctions
On the Block: A Daniels Trio
It starts with two magnificent items being offered at Phillips’ Geneva Watch Auction: NINE on 11-12 May 2019. Lot 32, being a wristwatch, will probably attract the most interest in general, as it is a wearable timepiece, whereas Lot 34 is a pocket watch, and therefore of narrower – if more elevated – appeal. Both, however, rank among the “crème de la crème” of timepieces, important on every imaginable level: technical, historical and ultimately collectible.
A bare-bones, dry catalog description of Lot 32 would read “An extremely rare, historically important and attractive yellow gold wristwatch with power reserve indicator and date, circa 2010, 40mm Diameter Case, dial, movement and buckle signed. Estimate CHF180,000-360,000/€160,000-321,000/$181,000-363,000”
This watch was produced to mark the 35th anniversary of Daniels’ invention – championed by Omega for 20 years – the watchmaker stating that his goal “has always been to make watches which provide historical, technical, intellectual, aesthetic, amusing and useful qualities. This wristwatch is a culmination of over 40 years of watchmaking and unashamedly takes inspiration from several pieces in my body of work. The 18 karat gold case houses a completely new and original Daniels calibre which is fitted with a calendar and power reserve complication and, along with the minute, hour and seconds, provides all the information that a fine watch should.”
Just as collectors were revelling in the news that Phillips had secured the two Daniels timepieces for the upcoming sale, Sotheby’s pulled a blinder with the announcement that its 2 July 2019 sale in London would include the timepiece Daniels described as “The kind of watch you would need on your package tour to Mars.” The Space Traveller I, from 1982, is yet another phenomenal pocket watch to tempt serious collectors and horological museums.
This 62mm 18k gold watch employs Daniels’ Independent double-wheel escapement with mean-solar and sidereal-time, phases of the moon and equation of time indications. Sotheby’s estimate is $900,000-1.2 million/£700,000-1 million, probably a conservative amount for not just one of the 23 pocket watches he produced, but also one of the most revered.