If you are still looking for a unique Christmas gift for that special someone, a unique Patek Philippe wristwatch with a Viking ship motif is being auctioned next week.
Just in time for Christmas, on December 8, Christie's in New York will conduct a live auction comprising 17 lots of vintage and modern timepieces from among the most desirable brands in the world.
One of the highlights among vintage watches is a rare 18k rose gold wristwatch with a cloisonné enamel dial featuring a Viking longship, manufactured in 1950. Today, most of the vintage wristwatches by Patek Philippe fitted with cloisonné dials are either in private collections or permanently showcased in the firm’s museum in Geneva, and rarely come up for auction. The estimated price is between $200,000-400,000.
Rare Patek Sold
Earlier this year, another cloisonné Patek came up for sale, the last of three surviving yellow gold Ref. 605 HU models, and was expected to fetch between HK$5,000,000 to HK$12,000,000, as finews.com reported. The hammer finally came down at HK$16,050,000 ($2.06 million), according to Christie's.
If you are looking for something a bit more contemporary, an 18k yellow gold Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 3700 with a diamond-set bezel from 1980, is also on the block.
(Nautilus Ref. 3700. Image: Christie's)
Paul Newman
For sportier types, there is an 18k gold Rolex Daytona Reference 6265 manufactured in 1981 for sale. It is manually wound rather than «perpetual,» and can be had for an estimated $160,000 to $260,000. That is a bargain compared to the Rolex Daytona owned by actor Paul Newman which sold for a record $17.8 million in 2017. The legendary watch was given to Newman by his wife Joanne Woodward when he took up car racing. On the reverse is an engraving that reads «Drive Carefully Me», according to «GQ» magazine.
(Rolex Daytona Ref. 6265. Image: Christie's)
Scuba diving aficionados have a chance to bid on a Tudor «Big Crown» Reference 7924 which was only manufactured in 1958 and 1959 and is said to be an exceptionally rare watch and a grail among vintage watch collectors. Aside from the movement and dial, the watch is identical to its Rolex «Big Crown» brothers. It is also the last «No Crown Guard» 200-meter depth-rated dive watch made by Tudor. It is expected to fetch between $60,000 and $100,000.
(Tudor Big Crown Ref. 7924. Image: Christie's)
Earlier this year, a battered but rare Rolex «MilSub» watch with a storied history was put up for auction at Bonham's, as finews.com reported. The high end of estimates was a selling price of around $150,000 but wound up selling for $268,000, according to the auction house.
