“If you wind it up it keeps pretty good time.” With these casual words, the actor Paul Newman handed over a watch to his daughter’s boyfriend in 1984.
He was right. The Rolex Daytona Cosmograph did keep good time. But it also kept its value. By the time it came up for sale at Phillips in New York in October 2017, it had been christened “the Holy Grail of vintage watches”. The estimate was $1 million, but it fetched $15.5 million, making it the most expensive watch ever to be sold at auction.
This December, another timepiece with a Hollywood history will come under the hammer at Phillips. Steve McQueen gave a Rolex Submariner to his friend and colleague Loren Janes, who had served as stuntman on 19 of McQueen’s movies. In 2016, a wildfire outside Los Angeles killed two people and destroyed Janes’s home. He lost everything – including his collection of film memorabilia.
Knowing the durability of this particular watch, however, the Janes family was encouraged to shovel in the rubble. After two days, they found the Submariner, still working. It was carefully restored by Rolex and will probably sell for well above its estimate of $300,000 to $600,000.
Gerald Genta
For collectors, stories such as these add immeasurably to the value of a watch. So does the brand. Rolex and Patek Philippe make up the A-list of sought-after vintage watches, followed by Omega, Cartier and Longines. The name of Gerald Genta is not so well known, but for watch connoisseurs the Swiss designer is an iconic figure whose personality shaped some of the most famous timepieces of the 20th century.
Genta created the Patek Philippe Nautilus, the Omega Constellation, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the Bvlgari Bvlgari. He also designed his own line of luxury watches, including the Grande Sonnerie Retro – known as the most complex wristwatch ever made, it took him five years to complete – and the Fantasy, which, with its Disney-character dial, has attained cult status in the collecting world.
So the appearance of a gold minute repeater watch by Gerald Genta, which comes under the hammer at John Weldon’s Jewellery Auction on Tuesday (Lot 285, €30,000-€35,000), is quite a treat for watch fans. The face has an elegance and simplicity which is deceptive – because as well as the time it shows the date, day, month, leap year and the phases of the moon. Turn it over and the exquisite mechanism is visible, pulsing inside the case like a tiny golden bird.
“This is an exceptional, rare watch of a kind which doesn’t come to market that often,” says John Weldon. “It really is in a league of its own.”
There are a number of highly collectable gents’ watches in this auction, including a coolly classic 18-carat gold Patek Philippe (Lot 283, €5,000-€6,000) a Rolex Oyster (Lot 276, €2,500-€3,500) and a chunky Omega Seamaster (Lot 272, €1,400-€1,800).
Meanwhile, the watch Weldon says he himself would choose is an 18-carat white gold Cartier Tank Americaine (Lot 259, €3,500-€5,500). “It’s very wearable. Having the box and papers with it adds value; the documents show it was bought in Weir’s in 2006, and a note shows it was serviced by Cartier. I would quite happily bring that home with me, and could see myself handing it on to my son,” he says.
Among the ladies’ watches in the sale are a Cartier bubble watch (Lot 274, €4,000-€5,000), an art deco diamond-set Patek Philippe cocktail watch dating from the 1920s (Lot 284, €4,500-€6,500), a diamond-set Omega bracelet watch (Lot 273, €1,400-€1,800) and a Harry Winston 18-carat gold watch in the box and with its papers (Lot 255, €800-€1,200). A Cartier diamond and sapphire art-deco pendant watch in a glorious diamond-and-sapphire setting (Lot 282) has a guide price of €18,000-€20,000.
Among the 440 lots to come under the hammer on Tuesday are a diamond and sapphire brooch with Burmese and Sri Lankan sapphires of approximately 22 carats and a certificate stating no indications of treatment or modification (Lot 219, €33,000-€37,000); a pair of sapphire and diamond drop earrings, the estimated weight of the sapphires 10 carats each (Lot 221, €9,000-€10,000); and a range of diamond rings including a single stone of 1.41 carats, colour I/H VS1-VS2, set in platinum, recently valued at €14,300 (Lot 89, €4,400-€4,900). Collectibles include an Irish silver sugar bowl by Matthew West, circa 1780, (Lot 294, €400-€600), a set of six two-handled nip cups in a fitted box, Dublin 1906, by West & Sons (Lot 295, €200-€300) and a set of sheriff badges in a box (Lot 319, €100-€200).
John Weldon Auctioneers, Cow’s Lane, Temple Bar, Dublin 8. Jewellery & Fine Watches Auction, Tuesday, August 14th, 2pm
