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Rare Rolexes at Monaco Legend Group This October
News
Rare Rolexes at Monaco Legend Group This October
Exceptional Explorer
The Rolex Explorer story is well documented and has its roots in the successful ascent of Everest by the Hilary and Norgay team in 1953. That team were given reference 6098 Ovettone watches by Rolex for the expedition, fitted with what we now know as ‘Everest Dials’, without the word EXPLOERER on, and are seen as the pre-Explorer watches. The Ovettone (Italian for big egg) is a large 36mm Oyster with deep rounded case back and have long been coveted by Italian collectors. I have loved these watches for many years and they have seen a huge rise in popularity over recent times. The following year a team of Italian Explorers undertook the enormous challenge of tackling K2, the tallest point of the Karakoram range on the border of China and Pakistan. K2 is the second highest peak on the planet, being 237 metres lower than the highest, the infamous Mount Everest. K2 is considered more challenging than Everest, however, with to date only 300 having reached the summit compared to the 3000 who have conquered Everest.
Goldberger Gold
Talking about well-respected and gentlemanly Italian watch aficiandos, one of the foremost is Auro Montanari or John Goldberger as he is known as a writer. One of Auro’s foremost publications is 100 Superlative Rolex watches, which features Lot 285, a very rare and special Rolex so-called Pre-Daytona. In 1960 Rolex released the reference 6238 a reference that ran until 1967 and overlapped with the introduction of the Daytona in 1963. The most striking difference between the two watches was that Rolex moved the tachymeter scale from the dial and onto the bezel with reference 6239.
Other Ovettones
Going back to the Ovettone watches that I was talking about earlier, there are a trio of such watched that cannot be overlooked. The first is a reference 6098, the same reference as the Everest Pre-Explorers only this time the dial goes much higher than Everest…it reaches the stars! Lot 270 has a case is in yellow gold and remains in beautiful condition. As with most vintage Rolex watches however, the most important element of the watch is the dial. And what a dial! The white dial has a honeycomb texture which makes it highly sought after by collectors. Add on top of this, applied star hour markers and this watch is truly out of this world!
Chronos and Complications
No serious vintage Rolex sale would omit a Paul Newman dial Daytona. One of the most collectible iterations of the Newman is the 6263 so-called Panda with its signature white dial with dial sub dials and black plastic insert tachymeter bezel. Lot 276 is a Mk1 example that has come from the family of the original family. With these watches it’s all about the details and this one ticks all the boxes. A Mk1 dial in a 2.8 million serial case, Mk1 pushers and a nice condition dial.
There will also be a special ‘Cartier 88’ sale featuring rare and exclusive Cartier pieces on 16th October 2021 at the Hotel Hermitage in Monaco. For more information click here.