Next month, Christie’s will once again hold its Geneva Rare Watches Sale, which counts several pieces from Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Audemars Piguet as some of its highlights.
The sale will also include a timepiece from musician and famed watch collector Eric Clapton, a Perpetual Calendar that has not been in the public eye for two decades.
“Geneva is the confluence of all that counts in the small but vastly exciting world of exceptional modern and vintage watches, with the legitimacy that comes from being home to the most fabulous watch marques, to mention only Patek Philippe, and Rolex,” says Rémi Guillemin, head of Watches of Christie’s Geneva.
The sale is also the first stop of Christie’s Kairos Collection, which has a 128 Patek Philippie timepieces in its lineup. The Geneva event will sell 30 of these pieces.
Gullemin says that the “showpiece of the sale will undoubtedly be this fantastic yellow gold trilogy, 3 Rolex Daytonas never seen before together and at the same time at auction.”
These watches are: the 6269 ‘Jack of Diamonds’ (low estimate at $1.18 million), the 6264 with ‘Tropical Lemon Paul Newman’ dial, and the 6241 with ‘Champagne Paul Newman’ dial.
Here are the highlights of the upcoming sale:
Lot 38: Rolex Daytona 18k gold Cosmograph Ref. 6269 ‘Jack of Diamonds,’ diamond-set bezel and pavé diamond and sapphire-set dial. One of only two examples known publicly bearing French importation marks and the Rolex France logo “Sté*R” for “Société Rolex.” Rarely ever seen at auction, reference 6269, the so-called ‘Jack of Diamonds’ is one of the most elusive models among all gold Cosmographs
Lot 129: Paul Newman Tropical Lemon Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 6264. This Daytona has the remarkable distinction of having had few owners since new; it was the property of the original owner until around 2012. Since that time, it has changed owners to end up within the collection of one of the most important European Rolex collectors
Lot 128: Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 6241 ‘Champagne Paul Newman Dial.” The rarity of the 18k gold reference 6241 with ‘Champagne Paul Newman’ dial is approximately on parity with the reference 6241 ‘John Player Special.’ The reference 6241 was produced for around only 3 years between 1966 and 1969 and is therefore a rare reference in its own right
Lot 24: Oyster Cosmograph Ref. 6263 Tropical ‘Paul Newman Panda Dial.’ Fresh to the market and possibly unique with a tropical Mark 1.75 dial, the white background of the timepiece’s dial has blemish-free. Its luminous accents are intact and evenly aged, matching the luminescence of the hands
Lot 127: The Rolex Ref. 6062 ‘Stelline,’ an 18K gold automatic triple calendar wristwatch with moon phases and star dial. This extremely rare reference 6062 ‘Stelline’ is a superb discovery to the world of Rolex collectors, and quite possibly has not been offered at an auction before. Of the approximately 670 reference 6062 produced in yellow gold, less than 150 examples have ever appeared on the open market.
Lot 151: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ‘Jumbo’ Extra-Thin with smoked green sunburst dial Ref. 15202PT. Since the Royal Oak’s launch in 1972, few models of the range have been made in platinum. In 2021, Audemars Piguet introduced this very special version in solid platinum, reference 15202PT, the first Platinum Royal Oak ‘Jumbo’ with a green sunburst dial. Reserved for AP Houses only, it is made in small numbers and so exclusive that demand has, unsurprisingly, vastly exceeded supply.
Lot 147: Stainless-steel Royal Oak A-Series No.1’741 . Designed by the celebrated Gérald Genta, and later qualified the masterpiece of his career, the Royal Oak secured a discerning and informed audience and became throughout the years the emblem of the Manufacture. The present watch is part of the first 2000 “A-series” Royal Oaks ever created, with the serial number “A 1741,” the 1,741st piece to be made.
Lot 149: The Royal Oak ‘Golden’ Tropical Mark 1 diamond index dial Ref. 5402BC. To the best of Christie’s knowledge, the present watch is the only example of a white gold reference 5402 with diamond dial that is so fully and evenly tropicalized. The dial is quite sensational and of unparalleled beauty, having tropicalized from the original black to a shimmering golden bronze colour fading to leave an even darker outer edge.
Lot 122: Patek Philippe perpetual calendar Ref. 1526-Eric Clapton CBE. During the 1990s and early 2000s, Eric Clapton assembled one of the most impressive and important collections of wristwatches anywhere in the world. The collection included many of the great classic models of Patek Philippe and some unique examples among them. Today, it is always an exciting event for collectors whenever one of the watches once owned by Eric Clapton appears back to the market. The present reference 1526 perpetual calendar is one such legendary timepiece. Not seen in public for almost 20 years, the present Patek Philippe was bought at the auction of the musician’s important watches at Christie’s New York and is being today by a private European collector
Lot 133: Cartier London ‘Crash’ 1990. This has a large cursive script signature ‘Cartier London’ on the untouched painted dial, crisp heavy gold case and matching gold ‘Crash’ folding clasp both with full Cartier London signature and hallmarks for 1990.
Lot 40: Breguet No.2424. To date, probably less than 10 examples of this watch are known publicly. The dial, with blue tachymeter scale and applied gold indexes is extremely beautiful, gently mellowing over the years to an even light champagne colour. The layout of the dial and the solid case proportions of this fine chronograph echo the greatest watch designs of all times, notably Rolex’s’ Dato Compax’ and Patek Philippe’s references 1518 and 2499.
