antiquorum

The Classicist: The Ultimate Steve McQueen Sale

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Luxury Cars & Autos, Auctions, Men's Style, The Classicist

There are only six Steve McQueen lots in Antiquorum's Important Collectors' Wristwatches auction in New York on June 11, but they include the famed King of Cool's two favorite timepieces and as such the sale represents an extremely important occasion for any enthusiast. As we've noted in the past, McQueen's rugged sportiness, authentic masculinity and innate good taste have inspired countless fashion designers, not to mention scores of other actors who followed in his wake. His watches are style icons in and of themselves.

Foremost is his Heuer "Monaco" chronograph, which he wore during the filming of the classic 1971 racing movie Le Mans (above). The Monaco was originally launched by Heuer in 1969 in honor of the Monaco Grand Prix. It's an unusual, square convex, water-resistant, stainless steel self-winding wristwatch with chronograph and date; Tag Heuer recently released a new version in tribute to the great actor. Following the filming of Le Mans, McQueen presented the watch to his financial advisor in appreciation.

Antiquorum has set a ridiculously low estimate of $10,000 - $20,000 on the timepiece, no doubt to encourage more people to bid. As we mentioned just the other day, however, McQueen memorabilia has been fetching high prices at auction. One collector just paid $42,700 - more than four times its estimate - for an International Driver's License issued to the actor in 1964. The watch could easily fetch 10 times its estimate, if not more. Perhaps Brad Pitt, a huge McQueen fan who's said to be playing the actor in an upcoming biopic, will snap it up.

Gallery: Steve McQueen at Antiquorum

The Von Dutch 1929 Scott 596cc Super Squirrel

Tags: Antiquorum, Brad Pitt, BradPitt, Heuer, Le Mans, LeMans, motorcycle, Rolex, Steve McQueen, SteveMcqueen, Tag Heuer, TagHeuer, Von Dutch, VonDutch

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Frank Sinatra's Gold Pasha de Cartier Watch Gifted To Sammy Davis Jr. At Auction

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Also included in the June 11th Antiquorum watch auction is this Cartier Pasha watch model that was a gift from Rat Packer Frank Sinatra to other fellow Rat Packer Sammy Davis Jr. The watch auction comes with news photos of Davis Jr. wearing the watch, while the rear of the watch still bears the engraving by Sinatra that reads, "Sammy, I Luv Ya, F.A.S." A highly collectible item for Cartier fans and Rat Pack devotees alike.

The 18k gold Pasha watch is printed with its manufacture date of 1987, and bears a quartz movement, being the "in" thing of the time. Today this would lead you to believe that Sinatra might have been miserly with his gift, but this was not the case in the late 80's when quartz movement based watches were much more popular than mechanical ones. The watch complications include the time, date with day, moon phase, and second time zone. The watch is very rare, and is estimated to go for a likely lower than actual auction price of $10,000 - $20,000.

Ariel Adams publishes the popular watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: antiquorum, auction, cartier, frank sinatra, FrankSinatra, gift, pasha, sammy davis jr., SammyDavisJr., timepiece, watch

FDR's Last Watch, The Gold Tiffany & Co. Movado To Be Auctioned Off

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

This is a nice watch and a great piece of history. Franklin Delano Roosevelt is obviously one of the best known US Presidents and more so in the spotlight these days given the focus on his handling of the Great Depression, in relation to our own economic woes. This Tiffany & Co. signed watch (made by Movado) was given to him on his final birthday by his son-in-law in 1945. FDR wore the watch for the last few months of his life until he died in April of 1945.

The 14k gold watch includes the sought after Movado Ref. 44776 Triple Calendar mechanical movement. Aside from being an excellent example of the timepiece, the engraving on the rear of the watch is the source of most of the value with the personal inscription to FDR, "with loyalty, respect, and affection." The watch will be offered with authentication papers. Antiquorum's always conservative price estimate anticipates a closing price of $50,000 - $60,000 - likely to yield more.

The FDR Tiffany & Co. watch will be one of the lots available at the June 11th Antiquorum "Important Collectors" watch and clock auction held in new New York City.

Ariel Adams publishes the popular watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: antiquorum, auction, fdr, franllin delano roosevelt, FranllinDelanoRoosevelt, gold, movado, tiffany co., TiffanyCo., timepiece, watch

Gandhi's Pocket Watch Goes For Over 2 Million Dollars In Controversial Auction

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Auctions

While bidding may still taking place at Antiquroum's March 4-5 auction, the major lot has closed, the Zenith pocket watch and some accompanying items owned by Gandhi. For weeks now the Indian government was trying to halt the auction by legal means. Fearful that the relics would pass to hand away from India, they claimed that the items belonged to the people of India as a whole. While Indian officials were unable to stop the New York City based auction, thankfully for them the Gandhi watch has remained in Indian hands.

'Lot 364' closed way above the estimate price ($20-30k) at 1.8 million dollars. That price increased to $2,096,000 including the buyer's premium (an amount over the final bidding price charged to the buyer). It was by far the highest price a lot for this current auction had reached. The winning bid came from Vijay Mallya, the wealthy owner of King Fisher Beer (and Airlines) of India (is that like having a Budweiser airlines in the US?). His complete plans with the items and pocket watch are unclear. While the Gandhi relics will go on public display, it is unclear whether they will be given to the Indian government or remain in private hands.

Some content via MSN News and Anitquroum.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: antiquorum, auction, gandhi, pocket, vijay mallya, VijayMallya, watch, zenith

$1.3 Million Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon Ref. 5002P Watch Up For Auction

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Auctions

The watch community gets really excited when Antiquorum has one of their highly publicized watch auctions. To garner a lot of attention they find a combination of 'celebrity' and rare watches. In addition to the exciting watches such as Gandhi's Zenith pocket watch, there are ultra rare 'investment grade' watches such as this Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon. Why investment grade? Because it retailed for a few hundred thousand dollars just a few years ago in 2005, and was recently sold in a Hong Kong auction for $1.7 million. Talk about appreciation!

This Sky Moon Tourbillon Ref. 5002P is special for a number of reasons. Other than being exceedingly rare, it is the most complex wrist watch ever made by Patek Phillipe. Look in the image gallery and you will notice that it actually has two faces. The front side is opaline white with small embossed Calatrava crosses and gold hour indicators. Complications there include a perpetual calendar, retrograde date, equation of time, time with hours and minutes, and the moon phase. Turn the watch around for a remarkable celestial view. There you have the sidereal time, a skychart showing the placement of the stars, phase and orbit of the moon, as well as a 24 hour hand.

I have to say that I prefer the celestial side of the face, but no one is really going to be wearing this watch are they? Antiquorum projects a sale price of 1-1.3 million dollars at the March 4 - 5, 2009 auction. Their estimates are typically shy, and I've seen prices go higher than estimates. We will wait and see.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gallery: Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon Ref. 5002P Watch

Tags: antiquorum, auction, patek philippe, PatekPhilippe, sky moon, SkyMoon, timepiece, tourbillon, watch

Watch Owned by Kennedy and Onassis Up at Auction

by Tracy Chait (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Auctions

Pictured above is the watch JFK wore every day during his morning swim in the White House pool, according to his personal secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, who found the watch in his desk following his assassination and gave it to his wife, Jackie. Now the watch is up for auction at Antiquorum in early March, and is expected to reach final bids between $150,000-200,000.

The watch, designed by Natrix, is a 14K gold timepiece featuring 57 jewels and its original brown alligator strap. It was a gift to the 35th President from Evangeline and David Bruce, who were key supporters of JFK's candidacy.

Interestingly enough, the watch belonged not only to JFK but to Aristotle Onassis. Mrs. Kennedy gave the watch to her second husband in 1971, inscribing the letters FALJ (For Ari, Love Jackie) between the lugs.

[Thanks Michelle!]

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Tags: antiquorum, aristotle onassis, AristotleOnassis, auction, jfk, kennedy, watch

Rare Rolexes in Antiquorum Watch Auction

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Auctions, Men's Style

At Antiquorum's important watch sale in NYC on Dec. 10 and 11 there are the usual passel of megabucks Patek Philippes, but we're focusing here on some of the rare Rolexes which have been much discussed lately and which represent an undeniably solid investment in this uncertain economy.

The top-priced Rolex in the sale is a Comex Sea Dweller that was formerly the property of Theo Mavrostomos, the world's deepest dive record holder, estimated at $75,000 - $95,000. From a purely aesthetic point of view we're very fond of the rare pre-Daytona black dial chronograph (right) made in the 1960's, est. $60,000 - $80,000.

Also among the rare Rolex offerings: A 1956 "James Bond" model Submariner, est. $70,000 - $90,000; a 1972 British Royal Navy military issue Submariner, est. $70,000 - $120,000; and a 1973 "Paul Newman" Cosmograph Daytona, est. $60,000 - $90,000. See the gallery for pix.

Gallery: Antiquorum December Rolexes

Tags: Antiquorum, Rolex

$1.2 Million Patek Philippe Up for Auction

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Auctions

At Antiquorum's Important Collectors' Wristwatches, Pocket Watches & Clocks auction in Manhattan today, a rare and important 1956 Patek Philippe chronometer (right) is expected to fetch up to $1.2 million.

The 18K yellow gold watch has a square button chronograph, 30-minute register, perpetual calendar, moon phases, and special tachometer dial, and comes accompanied by an additional Patek Philippe 18K yellow gold link bracelet, fitted box and the extract from the watchmaker's archives.

This is the priciest Patek we've seen since the Sotheby's auction we told you about in May that featured an oversized chronograph formerly owned by dashing Italian racecar driver Count Felice Trossi.

The Antiqorum sale also features an astronomic, water-resistant, platinum and diamond Patek chronograph with registers, perpetual calendar and moon phases, estimated at $280,000 - $340,000.

[via Affluent Page]

Tags: Antiquorum, patek philippe, PatekPhilippe, Watch

Pre-Owned Luxury Purveyor's McQueen Rolex & More

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

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

Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Compressor Geographic Automatique

Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Platinum

Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar 18k White Gold

Ulysse Nardin Sonata Cathedral Dual Time

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Tags: Antiquorum, Internet auctions, InternetAuctions, Patek Philippe, PatekPhilippe, Portero, Portero.com, Rolex, Steve McQueen, SteveMcqueen, Watch auctions, WatchAuctions

Eric Clapton's Rolex Sells for Record-Shattering $505,000

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Auctions

The other day we reported on the world records set at Antiqorum's recent $8.5 million Rolex auction, where the top-priced timepiece fetched $248,000. At Sotheby's Important Watches auction on April 23, however, that record was shattered by the sale of an ultra-rare 1971 "Albino" Rolex Daytona that formerly belonged to rock & roll icon Eric Clapton. Eclipsing its pre-sale estimate of $100,000 - $150,000, the Daytona went for a whopping $505,000 including buyer's premium.

Though the total proceeds from the Sotheby's sale, $6,588,451, were far less than Antiquorum's, the Clapton sale set a record for the Daytona and was the second-highest price ever achieved at auction for a Rolex watch. This model is known as the "Albino" because both the background and subsidiary dials are in a monochrome silver color, as opposed to the usual contrasting variations found on more common examples.

The second through fifth highest prices paid at the Sotheby's auction were all for Patek Philippes, ranging from $445,000 - $217,000. The sixth highest was also a Rolex, a so-called "James Bond" 1959 Submariner, which brought in $211,000.

Gallery: Sotheby's Important Watches

Patek Philippe. A Large Gold Automatic Perpetual Calendar, $301,000.

A. Lange & Söhne Ltd. Edition Gold Tourbillon with Power Reserve, $145,000.

Tags: Antiquorum, Eric Clapton, EricClapton, Patek Philippe, PatekPhilippe, Rolex, Rolex Daytona, Rolex Submariner, RolexDaytona, RolexSubmariner, Sothebys

World Records Set at $8.5 Million Rolex Auction

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Auctions

Nine world records were set at Antiquorum's massive vintage Rolex auction on April 17, entitled Revolution: The Evolution of the Rolex Sport Watch, commemorating the brand's 100th anniversary. In total, $8,515,260 worth of timepieces were sold to bidders worldwide.

Among the records set was $237,600 each for two highly-prized 1967 Sea-Dweller Submariners, and $166,800 for a 1973 Submariner originally issued to the British military. The most beautiful watch in the sale, the rare "Jean-Claude Killy" Antimagnetic Oyster Chronograph, fetched $155,000, while the highest price was brought in by a 1979 "Comex" model Sea-Dweller, which went for $248,800.

While collectors certainly paid a premium for historical value, not all the most attractive watches hit six figures. The super-stylish version of the Explorer known as the "Straight Hand Steve McQueen" pictured here went for a more modest $40,800, still a significant sum for this model.

Gallery: Antiquorum's 100th Anniversary Rolex Auction

The Sultan of Oman's 1973 Oyster Perpetual

Tags: antiquorum, auctions, rolex, steve mcqueen, SteveMcqueen

The Wall Street Journal Looks Behind The Curtain At Antiquorum

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Auctions

The Wall Street Journal has a fascinating piece on the world of watch collecting and in specific the Antiquorum auctions. I've covered these auctions a lot here on Luxist, they feature some of the most expensive and impressive collectibles from names like Rolex, Omega, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet. As the Journal reports, the watch makers themselves are often the buyers of the watches, buying back older pieces at exorbitant prices to set the prices of collectibles. The co-founder of Antiquorum, Osvaldo Patrizzi, shown here, is quoted in the article as saying that auctions are much stronger than advertising when it comes to promoting a brand. Patrizzi's view is controversial and raises some ethical questions about whether this is price fixing. In fact, Patrizzi is no longer chairman and chief exec of Antiquorum. He was booted a couple of months ago and Antiquorum is currently going over their books. Patrizzi's ouster is not said to be connected to the single-brand auctions.

Watchmakers do often buy back certain watches for their archives much as certain jewelers do with rare pieces they want to hold on to but in the case of Omega it seems that something more might be going on. Omega was seeking to restore its reputation for fine mechanical watches after years of making quartz timepieces. Turning to Antiquorum was part of a multi-tiered campaign that included celebrity spokespeople. Patrizzi thought an Omega-only auction could help give the brand new cachet. One interesting detail though, Antiquorum couldn't vouch for the authenticity of watches that are mass-produced so Omega agreed to guarantee the authenticity of all watches sold at the auction and supplied vintage timepieces from its own collection for the sale. The sale, which was promoted in 11 cities, brought in $5.5 million last April, of 300 lots, Patrizzi says Omega bid on around 80. Did this artificially inflate the prices on some lots? That's the major concern.

Price fixing allegations on collectibles are nothing new. Perhaps the most dramatic example is the Sotheby's-Christies auction house scandal memorably detailed in The Art of the Steal by Christopher Mason. In the world of collectibles where value is determined by what people will pay, greed often takes over.

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Tags: antiquorum, auction, expire-images:2008-10-9, omega, timepieces, watches

Antiquorum Makes Big Bucks on Patek Philippes

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Auctions

The results of the latest Antiquorum watch auction held on March 28 are in and they are impressive. The sale brought in $7,161,450 for 347 lots. There were almost 400 online bidders as well as telephone-, room-, and commission bidders staking their claim around the world. The top lots in the sale were Patek Philippe watches with the Patek Philippe Ref. 5029 selling for $590,800, shown aboe, a world record for this reference number. Other Patek Phillippes including the Ref. 5013($523,600) and Ref. 3974 ( $ 518,000) also achieved record prices. There was also a world record for a Panerai , the "PAM 21" brought in $140,400.

[Thanks, Dmitry]

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Tags: antiquorum, patek philippe, watches, wristwatch

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