Watch auctions

Pre-Owned Luxury Purveyor's McQueen Rolex & More

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Auctions

A million-dollar Patek Philippe may be out of your price range, but that doesn't mean you have to give up on acquiring a classic and highly collectible timepiece at auction. A less expensive alternative to the marquee sales at Sotheby's and Christie's comes in the form of Portero.com's eBay-style luxury watch auction, ending Wednesday. Portero, which means "gatekeeper" in Spanish, has established itself as the most reliable online pre-owned luxury purveyor by absolutely guaranteeing that everything they sell is 100% authentic - an important safeguard when shopping for secondhand big-ticket items online.

The company, which just announced the strongest first quarter results in its history, features several important timepieces in its most impressive watch offering to date. Take for instance this beautiful 1974 Stainless Steel Rolex Oyster Perpetual Explorer II, known as the "Straight Hand Steve McQueen" after the super-cool actor who popularized it - one of our favorite vintage Rolexes of all time. At Antiquorum's record-breaking $8.5 million Rolex auction last month one just like it went for $40,000, but with less than three days left (as of time of writing) the current bid on this one is only $19,000, so there's a chance to score a really good deal. See the gallery for more lots including watches by Patek Philippe, Ulysse Nardin and Jaeger-LeCoultre.

Gallery: Portero.com Watch Auction