Auctions
Povey’s Picks — Clapton Watches and Other Goodies at Phillips Geneva Watch Auction: Six
Auctions
Povey’s Picks — Clapton Watches and Other Goodies at Phillips Geneva Watch Auction: Six
Trio of Tudors (Lots 139, 140 & 207)
It is a fairly recent thing to see Tudors at high-end wrist watch auctions. This sale has three iconic references from Tudor; a non-date snowflake Submariner, a snowflake Submariner date and a first series chrono – the legendary Homeplate or Porsche Chrono. Lot 139 is a great example of the most desirable of the Homeplates (excluding the black dial) – the reference 7031 with black plastic tachymeter bezel. It’s a good one too, but made even cooler by the addition of the original bright orange ‘peanut box’.
Clapton’s Classics (Lots 164 & 165)
I said before that there were no superstar lots…but that wasn’t necessarily true. There are two lots that belong to a superstar – Eric Clapton CBE. Clapton is a well-known collector of high-end watches, by both Rolex and Patek. I’ve been lucky enough to handle some his Patek Philippe pieces-unique over the years and they are always beautiful and stealthily unique. This sale has one from each of his preferred stables – a Patek reference 3970 and a Rolex Daytona reference 116528. The Daytona was purchased in 2003 from George Pragnell, a Rolex AD in the UK. The yellow gold watch features a black dial, with striking red outer seconds track and stop watch hand. Known by collectors as the modern ‘Paul Newman’ dial, this watch is desirable in its own right, never mind the rock star paperwork!
New Newman Nature (Lots 137, 197 & 249)
There are three Newmans in the sale. There is a 14k gold pump-pusher 6241, a 6264 and Oyster Newman reference 6263. All three are highly collectible and sought after, but what will happen following the incredible result for the reference 6239 that was formerly the property of the watch’s namesake – Mr Paul Newman himself? The market will, I suspect, still be slightly buoyed by the result but I am unsure we’ll see a huge surge in prices of these watches. But we’ll see on the day…
A True Explorer (Lot 244)
The Rolex Explorer is one of the marques most enduring references and has a heritage that was truly born up the dizzy heights of some of the worlds most challenging and treacherous mountains. Rolex provided the 1953 Everest expedition with ‘Pre-Explorer’ watches, reference 6098, which led to the development of the 6350 and 6150 Explorers where the iconic black 3-6-9 dial was used and the word Explorer appeared on the dial.
A Speedy Flyer (Lot 126)
The Omega Speedmaster is now becoming one of the most collectible chronos and interest is booming in vintage examples. Lot 126 is a nice and original Speedmaster reference 2998-4 that is rare in itself, but has the additional bonus of having been delivered to the Peruvian Air Force (as confirmed by the Omega archival extract). The watch was worn by General Enrico Praeli and the lot is accompanied by a number of important atrefacts that belonged to the General including is ID card and medals. This is a collector’s dream lot!