The month of June was bountiful for the New York auction scene. Three primary competitions succeeded each other, with triumphant results all around: in all, almost 20 million dollars in watches fell under the hammer.
Sotheby’s
As usual, on June 7th, the Sotheby’s sale opened the ball, with a catalogue composed of a large ensemble of modern watches. The first 50 lots all found buyers within the range of estimate range. These good results for modern pieces bode well for the market, as this difficult sector has been searching for the right place since the beginning of the year, with a surplus of stock from watchmaking Swiss industry.
If certain vintage “time only” watches included in the sale had difficulties finding buyers, there are also some very good results that deserve mention; for example, lot 119, one of the first generations Santos by Cartier from 1925, quadrupled its base estimate and sold for 16,250$. This sale was a perfect representation of the market for vintage watches since the beginning of 2017.
Collectors look for pieces that are in good condition above all else; more than ever, they are focused on the quality of vintage watches, a trend which makes all the difference in the final adjudications. We should also remember lot 260, a Breitling Cosmonaut constructed in steel and built around 1960, which also went for triple the appraisal at 16,250$. These signs confirm the trend for vintage pieces in mint condition at exceptional prices.
Among the most interesting results were the sales of three modern tourbillon watches signed by Greubel Forsey, which all sold more or less successfully: the most stark gain was for lot 334, a double tourbillon in rose gold which sold for double its estimate at 200,000$. And finally, an encouraging outcome for the 75 years anniversary of the Patek Philippe Calatrava, lot 357, reference 96 in white gold from 1928. This rare example, sold by the retailer Eberhard in its time, went for double its estimate at 37,500$.
Beyond these pieces that drew the expert’s eye, note that the sale in its entirety remains one of the most balanced of the season among all the selling locations at Sotheby’s for watches (Geneva, Hong Kong, London).
In all, the auction drew overall revenue of 7,433,501$, with an average per lot of 23,979$. Within the total and over the 368 lots on offer, there were 62 Rolex lots versus 66 Patek Philippe pieces, valued 1,386,750$ and 2,745,250$ respectively, and accounting for almost 55% of the total auction revenue: “match point” for the Patek Philippe brand at the Sotheby’s auction house. On average, Rolex lots sold for 22,367$ versus a 41,595$ average for Patek Philippe. Once again, these two brands vied for the most significant bids.
Patek Philippe took first place with lot 374, a modern grand complication piece. It was appraised at 444,500$ as a base estimate, a price on par with current market value for a reference 5016 in platinum.
The only compensation was the very good performance of modern complicated watches by Richard Mille: lot 336, sold for 396,500$, RM008, the brand is now more and more appreciated by collectors at auction, especially considering the recent success of the Picciotto collection from Phillips last May in Hong Kong.
This Sotheby’s sale was solid, with stable results and increasing trends on modern watches from independent watchmakers, especially Richard Mille.
Christie’s
The most anticipated auction of the month took place last June 21st at Christie’s headquarters Rockefeller center, organized by its international director John Reardon, who put together a great selection of vintage and historical watches.
In fact, the expert’s eye must salute the audacious initiative of featuring, for the cover of the catalogue, not a just watch, but a single black and white picture of the iconic figure Jacky wearing her famous Cartier Tank.
The combination of a historic personality of the 20th century carrying on her wrist an icon in the wristwatch history was an explosive cocktail; we anticipated a lively bidding war, and were not to be disappointed.
But if the record bid of almost 400,000$ utterly destroyed the lowest estimate, it was the identity of the winning bidder, Kim Kardashian, that completely stunned the world of watchmaking, according to the breaking news from Hodinkee.
I find it interesting to consider this sale, which is so symptomatic of our era: Jacky, the legend, and the celebrity, Kim, met through one of her favorite watches. This is undeniably a sign that provenance is the essential trump card for promoting the “The Art of Watches”.
For years, watches have been beating records, and this one reveals a connection between two fascinating worlds. One is the historic with the 60’s Golden Era of American history, represented by Jacky, wife of President JFK, who first used the expression “The New Frontier,” anticipating no doubt our current modern world. That modern world is the world of Kim Kardashian, the most visible icon of this contemporary “New Frontier” of social media, where we live our lives by proxy in a digital and virtual world.
Far from the ephemeral publicity stunts of Kim Kardashian, I believe that the sale of the watch of Jacky’s is very emblematic of our era. Kim Kardashian knows how to create a new image of herself, one soon featuring this legendary watch on her wrist. Moreover, the sale will not fail either to revitalize in turn the prestigious and rich history of Cartier jewelry. This is truly the winning trio of June 2017.
Cartier shone especially bright with Kim’s historic bid, but the global results of the auction also exceeded the hopes of Christie’s, with an overall revenue higher than either of its two primary competitors in New York.
With the laudatory title “Rare Watches and American Icons,” Christie’s slipped into the first rank of auctions, with an overall sale of more than 10,028,500$, equaling an average price per lot of 54,800$.
But the trend that often finds Patek Philippe triumphant did not hold true at the Christie’s auction, with Rolex largely holding first place for bids on its 43 lots and carrying a sum of 3,251,250$ overall. Patek Philippe, on the other hand, with 42 lots brought in only 2,205,250$.
The early signs of the season indicate that Rolex is poised to take first place in the context of auctioning, a fact that has been confirmed more and more at all the auction houses.
Among modern watches, another gesture is due to the Richard Mille brand, which took the first rank on the podium for lot 228, appraised at 1,207,500$.
But the Christie’s catalogue was also largely oriented towards vintage models from Heuer, including memorable sales such as lot 15, an emblematic model retailed by Abercrombie, which tripled its estimate at 60,000$. Moreover, lot 20, the black PVD version of the famous Monaco model dubbed the “Dark Lord,” sold for 43,750$. To close the festival of Heuer results, came lot 239 which sold for almost double its base estimate at 199,500$, certainly one of the most expensive pieces of the last two years.
Antiquorum
Finally, the auctions of New York also included a rich session at the Antiquorum auction house, currently run autonomously at the historic site .com while the Geneva and Hong Kong branches have adopted a new site .swiss since last month.
The sale took place last June 22nd, benefiting from all the dynamism of Christie’s with solid bidding and a few notable results for vintage pieces.
With a total revenue of 2,623,130$ and an average price of 14,573$, the sale included some lovely bidding; the banner item of the sale, a Rolex Daytona “Paul Newman” Ref. 6239 with a “tropical” dial, sold at triple the estimated price for 209,000$.
Rolex also took the “match point” versus Patek Philippe by a narrow margin, with 42 lots sold for 882,188$ versus 22 lots for 802,600$.
Considering vintage watches, there were a few interesting auctions, but the most symptomatic of the sale is still the price reached by the dial and watch hands of the Turn-O-Graph Rolex Ref. 6202: 14,375$, more than ten times base estimate.
It is certainly interesting to see that the market is more and more accommodating to accessories especially the dial, which is for collector the most important part in vintage watch collecting.
Among all the watches sold at auction for record prices recently, it is not surprising to mostly see dials which retain their original patina, an attribute which is responsible above all else for the value of a vintage watches.
Therefore, it is significant to note that if the case, dial, and mechanisms have a original patina, there is no limit on price. Add an interesting provenance, and a record is guaranteed!
The positive points of the market lead us to believe that we are currently in a selective market; wherever a sale takes place, selectivity is necessary in order to put together results that will succeed in the four corners of the planet.
Therefore, in the next “Expert’s eye,” we will explore the tendencies of the summer sales of Monaco, impelled by one of the historic actors and most celebrated French auction houses, Artcurial.
Artcurial has recently made its debut with first auction of vintage cars, with a result of more than 10 million euros last July 2nd, an outcome that comforts its leadership in Monte Carlo headingup to a series of sales in of Important Jewels, Watches and Hermes bags and accessories.
Artcurial will get this year again strong competition from other auction houses like HVMC, Boulle, and Antiquorum, who will present collectible watches. It is a good sign for the Monaco auction scene.