Watch Collector by Christian Bissener, Passion ¦ Perfection ¦ Quality ¦ Exclusiveness: 2025

Freitag, 16. Mai 2025

Geneva auctions May 2025 -----> Rolex JPS, FPJ 041/00R, Newman Lemon dial, 8171R full set, Rolex 6234 14kt, Patek 425 Breguet

Dear watch aficionado.

The last weekend were again, same procedure as every year, the Geneva May auctions. The previews went very well and I could see a lot of beautiful watches, but as always, as well a lot of watches with problems. I will show you herewith my personal highlights of the watches that I saw and with which I am quite confident that they have no problems and are good and honest timepieces.

I will start with the three greatest bargains of the weekend:

The first one is the Rolex 6264 14kt yellow gold Newman JPS dial. The watch itself was in really great condition, had a matching bracelet, flawless dial, great case. The more it came with the original payement receipt, box, guarantee and a letter from the second owner, who bought it in 1975, confirming the history of this watch. This timepiece was sold at Christie's for 1'008'000CHF! I do know the buyer of this watch, who is a really great collector and I am really happy for him that he got this piece at this price!

The second one is the Rolex 8171 pink gold full set. The watch itself was as well in great condition, case probably never polished and the dial was a real vintage beauty, nice patina, correct satiné vertical for the center and grainé finish for the outer date ring. Strong crown and serial on the caseback. But the more, it came with all original paperwork that one could dream of! I have never seen such a well preserved Padellone combined with a true full set yet. Phillips sold it for 508'000CHF!

The third one was the extraordinary and unique Cartier mystery clock from 1924. To see such a breathtaking timepiece in real is something really special. This piece sold for 3'932'000CHF, which is a real bargain! And if you don't believe me, maybe you believe the words of the grand maître horloger Francois Paul Journe, who said, when the hammer went down "it is very cheap". Mr. Journe did bid as well on this piece, but the day before he bought already "his" Breguet Sympathique N°1 for 5'505'000CHF, so maybe he was happy with that buy and didn't want to fight with the knive between the tooth for this Cartier clock ;)

Herewith I do show you as well the other watches that I really liked and was happy to see in the metal during the previews:

Rolex 6264 yellow gold 18kt PN Lemon dial, Phillips 825'500CHF

Rolex 6238 yellow gold 14kt, Phillips 241'300CHF

FPJ N°041/00R, Christie's 831'600

Longines 23086, Antiquorum 32'500CHF

Patek Philippe 425 Breguet numerals, Antiquorum 16'250CHF

Omega Seamaster yellow gold cloisonné émail cadran Stern, Christie's 189'000CHF

Rolex 6304 black dial, Christie's 81'900CHF

Patek Philippe 2499 pink gold 2nd series Gobbi Milano, will be sold at Sotheby's in New York

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Kind regards.
Christian
www.watchcollector.lu

Montag, 14. April 2025

Auktionen Dr. Crott, Mai 10th ----> Patek Philippe 2499/100 Gübelin NOS full set, 3450 Gübelin NOS full set, 3700/1J NOS

Dear watch aficionado.

On may 10th there will be the 112th auction of the auction house Auktionen Dr. Crott, let by Stefan and Steffi Muser.

For this may auction, they have set up a great catalogue with some nice and interesting timepieces. But the three most important watches in this auction are certainly the Patek Philippe 2499/100J Gübelin NOS full set, the Patek Philippe 3450J Gübeling NOS full set and the Patek Philippe 3700/1J NOS. All the three pieces are coming from the family of the original owner.

I think that this might be the best 2499/100J that has come to the market so far. This example has really everything that every high-class collector is looking for. It comes in absolutely NOS condition, has a double signed dial Gübelin and comes with its original certificate, original invoice, wooden box and outer packaging. This is a great chance for a top notch collector who wants only the best for his or hers collection, but might be as well a great chance for a newcomer to put his or hers collection on a different level from scratch on. The estimate on this extraordinary example is 500 000€ - 1 500 000€. Is it going to break the million Euro for a fourth series? Time will tell ;)

But then they have as well this spectacular 3450J. As the 2499, this one comes as well in NOS condition, with its original certificate, original invoice, additional invoice for the folding clasp and an additional letter from Patek to the owner, explaining the mechanism of the date function. The more it has as well a double signed dial with Gübelin. Probably the best 3450J that had been on the market so far. The estimate of this watch is 170 000€ - 270 000€.

The third in the row is this perfectly preserved 3700/1J which is accompanied by its original invoice, box and outer packaging, double signed dial with Beyer. To find these in NOS condition with a 100% firm bracelet, bevels, etc... is really rare. And as a set as the present example, it is certainly a great addition for every high-class collector. The estimate on this watch is 150 000€ - 300 000€. It will be interesting to see where this one is going to end up, because the market of the Nautilus watches really softened up, but then to find one as the present example is really something special.

*photo credit is at Auktionen Dr. Crott

Dienstag, 8. April 2025

Sotheby's auction, April 24th ----> 5 Qing Dynasty clocks from the Nezu museum

Dear watch aficionado.

When I first took a look at the Sotheby's catalogue of their upcoming Hong Kong auction on April 24th (lot 2256, 2257, 2258, 2259, 2260), my heart almost stopped beating when I saw that they have these five absolutely stunning and impressive Qing Dynasty clocks from the Nezu museum up for sale.

Now a days, a timepiece from the modern era of industrial and computerized production is very fast described as a museum grade timepiece. But, what should these five masterworks of art crafted in the late 18th century be described then? The thousands of hours of pure craftsmanship and skill to design and produce each one of these clocks are just unimaginable. Take a look at the fine details of the guilloché and émail works, the engravings and automatons, just simply breathtaking and really really stunning!

With these five clocks, every serious collector could put hers or his collection to a total different level. Or maybe a collector who is probably a newcomer in the collecting of watches and mostly bought modern pieces, like Mark Zuckerberg, could instantly put his collection to a totally new level and enter at one hit a different universe of collecting museum grade masterworks.

Herewith I show you the video from Sotheby's in which Sam introduces these five clocks:

*photo credit is at Sotheby's

Freitag, 4. April 2025

Bukowskis auction ----> Daniel Roth/Philippe Dufour 2117, perpetual calendar N°0000

Dear watch aficionado.

There is a very interesting Daniel Roth reference 2117, the instantaneous perpetual calendar, coming up for sale on April 15th at Bukowskis auctions.

The present watch is the "Numero 0000", so as I think, this is the very first example made with the newly developed sub-dial/hands indication for the day and month. Whereas the earlier examples had the guichet/disque indication for the day and month, but Roth and Dufour did find out very fast that this system would not properly working and so they changed to the system of the present watch. Back then Daniel Roth worked together with Philippe Dufour to develop the instantaneous perpetual mechanism based on a Lemania 8810.

What makes this timepiece very special, certainly is the "Numero 0000" serial number and so as I think, this is the very first 2117 with the newly developed indication system for the day and month. Somebody who is looking for a timepiece made by two legendary watchmakers, this might be a good chance to buy such a watch.

I do personally love the early Daniel Roth watches, the Rétrograde, the Tourbillon, the Chronographe and they become more and more collectible.

The estimate on the present watch is 23 000 - 42 000€, which is very conservative I'd say. It will be interesting to see where the price is going to end up.

Montag, 24. März 2025

RR auction -----> Neil Armstong's N°17 yellow gold Omega Speedmaster plus 2 nice signed photographs by Ed White

Dear watch aficionado.

There is a highly important and historical Omega Speedmaster 145.022 "Tribute to Astronauts" coming up for sale at RR Auction on April 17, the N°17 of Neil Armstrong!

The first 28 examples were released known as the "Tribute to Astronauts", N°1 was reserved for President Richard Nixon, N°2 for Vice President Spiro Theodore Agnew and the following 26 examples for the Astronauts. This example is the N°17 of Neil Armstrong, the first human walking on the moon, Herewith is the direct link to the auction. It will be interesting to see for how much this N°17 will be sold, as the Wally Schirra N°8 sold for almost 2 Million $ (of which I wrote as well on my blogg)on October 20 2022, the Gus Grissom N°4 for 375000$ and the Alan Bean N°26 for 302 500$ on April 20 2023. And the Michael Collins N°19 was sold at Heritage auctions for 765 000$ on June 2nd 2022. Adding the historical importance of Mr. Neil Armstrong in Space exploration, the first human walking on the moon and the commander of the Apollo 11 mission, this watch will probably go a bit crazy on the price. Should it make 3 Million or probably way more?

The more, there are as well two nice signed photographs by Ed White while performing the first space walk of an american while wearing his Omega Speedmaster 105.003. Both quite nice gadgets for an Omega collector who does own a Speedmaster 105.003 "Ed White". Lot 7081 and 7090

*photo credit is RR Auction