Results for Sotheby's Important Watches

The Panerai Luminor Due Watches for Cortina’s 45th Anniversary

Cortina Watch celebrated its 45th anniversary with a gala dinner held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Singapore. The exclusive event saw more than 600 VIP guests in attendance, which included Mr. Thomas Kupfer, Ambassador of Switzerland to Singapore.

Right On Track With The New Roger Dubuis Pirelli Watches

Roger Dubuis released another two models in partnership with Pirelli, swapping out the blue accents with yellow or red - the two colours that make up the Pirelli logo.

The Curious Legacy of Audemars Piguet Calendar Watches Part 2.

Today, the legacy of Audemars Piguet Calendars lives on in the black version, made of hand-finished black ceramic: the 2017 Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar

Video: The Malle Mile x Tudor Watches

8 Monumental Richard Mille Watches According to Richard Mille

Top 5 Hublot All Black Watches

MR PORTER Begins Retailing Oris Watches

Fredrique Constant Group to be acquired by Citizen Watches

Pre-SIHH 2016: IWC Big Pilot’s Heritage Watches and the entire revamped line of Pilot’s Watches.

IWC revamps their Pilot's Watch lineup with many new models and rework on old models. In this article, we provide details on the Big Pilot's Heritage Watch 55 and 48.

Pre Baselword 2015: Hublot Big Bang Ferrari watches

Hublot Big Bang Ferrari new models for Baselworld 2015

Reactions: Patek Philippe 175th Anniversary watches.

Patek Philippe 175th anniversary, featuring the Grandmaster Chime...

A Handful Of Magic: Panerai’s Pocket Watches

If there were an Academy Award in the watch world for brand that’s evolved not only furthest, but also the most intelligently, from its origins, the ladies and gentleman of the Academy might well have to give the award to Panerai.  For much of its history a somewhat obscure maker of instruments for the Italian […]

Richard Mille Watches - The Billionaire’s Masonic Handshake

Milestones: Two Centuries, Two Breguet Tourbillon Pocket Watches

On November 11th we were lucky enough to attend the opening of the exhibition, “Breguet The Innovator: Inventor Of The Tourbillon,” (which ran from November 11-17 at the 5th Avenue boutique in New York) –a traveling round up of Breguet tourbillons that included virtually every modern tourbillon the company makes today, as well as a […]

Cartier Chronographs; Two Watches, One Heart

Chronographs are probably the most popular complication. They are pretty affordable (for a complication) masculine and have a sporty appearance that most men like, weather we’re talking mono poussoir chronographs or the three button chronographs, it’s a type of watch that we find in almost any watch collection. Cartier has currently two interesting chronographs in […]

Auctions: Sotheby's Watches Announces Its 'Most Historically Important Pairing Ever' With George Daniels And Roger Smith Watches This Fall

It's the last of Daniels' Millennium series – double signed – and the very first in the Co-Axial Anniversary series by Smith for Daniels, representing the best of British watchmaking.

Auctions: Four Dark Horses (And One Superstar) At Sotheby's Geneva 'Important Watches' Auction

The blue chip stuff's still sky-high, but there are some great hidden gems in the running as well.

I went to my first watch auction, here’s what I found

I was equal parts excited and curious when a package from Sotheby’s Australia landed on Felix’s desk last month. Upon opening, it revealed a catalogue for their upcoming Important Jewels auction, and while the jewellery portion of the catalogue was full of fabulous gems and precious metals, I was obviously much more interested in the … ContinuedThe post I went to my first watch auction, here’s what I found appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Complicated Collectors: Edgar Mannheimer

London, 1965. Christie’s had arranged the third and final part of the Sir David Salomons Collection for sale — a sequence of Breguet watches assembled by the Victorian baronet whose obsession with Abraham-Louis Breguet had produced the most important English-language study of the watchmaker’s work. When the bidding closed, one man had bought every lot in the catalogue. Continuing our ongoing Complicated Collectors series, Edgar Mannheimer left an indelible mark on watch collecting. He was 40 years old, and had settled in Zurich a decade earlier with nothing but the instincts he had developed in the post-war black markets of Germany. He was not a collector in the sense that he did not keep what he bought. What he did, with a consistency and conviction that separated him from every other figure in the mid-century horological trade, was understand, ahead of the market, what something was worth. The Salomons lots were subsequently divided between two collectors. It was, in miniature, a portrait of how Mannheimer operated: he absorbed the risk, resolved the complexity, and left his clients with the watches. Neutitschein and Auschwitz Edgar Mannheimer was born on December 23, 1925, in Neutitschein, Moravia, into a family whose presence in the town was visible and established. His father ran Marsmalz, a confectionery business prominent enough to operate the community’s first delivery van — a small but telling detail about the family’s position within a world where Je...

The Sinn 903 Returns in Titanium, Updating an Iconic Design

Sinn is celebrating its 65th anniversary with a limited edition of one of its most peculiar watches. Not peculiar in terms of design, but because it feels like an outlier to the rest of their catalog, though in some respects, it’s also the most recognizable. The Sinn 903 is a pilot’s chronograph with an internal slide rule bezel that bears a striking resemblance to another famous watch, the Breitling Navitimer. But it’s important to note that it’s not a copy of a Navitimer. Rather, Sinn has owned the rights to this design since the late 1970s. A cult classic, it stands out aesthetically from Sinn’s other instrument watches, which tend to have a toolish, stripped-down look. By comparison, the 903 is more elaborate and, given its associations with the design, a more Swiss-luxury aesthetic. With that said, as Sinn is Sinn, they bring their engineering flair, while also keeping the price relatively approachable. This is true for the general 903 models, but even more so for the 65th anniversary model, the 903 Ti II Anniversary. Interestingly, you’ll see the number two in the name, because Sinn actually made a previous version of a 903 in titanium for its 35th anniversary. Why the 903 and why titanium? Well, we don’t know, but it’s certainly a welcome metal for this watch, and, as it’s been 30 years, a welcome return. Sinn uses grade five titanium for the case and the five-link bracelet, which has a bright, steel-like look that can be polished, while still bene...

Massena LAB Teams Up with Raúl Pagès Once Again for the Limited Edition “Absinthe”

Massena LAB has announced a new collaboration with independent watchmaker Raúl Pagès inspired by one of the most important Patek Philippe watches of the last century. The Absinthe, which serves as the direct follow-up to the pair’s massively successful 2022 release, the Magraph, brings together a proprietary hand-wound movement, a strikingly green dial (reminiscent of the infamous spirit for which the watch is named), and all the vintage charm we have come to expect from Massena LAB in one surprisingly affordable (and highly limited) package. William Massena is one of those rare figures in the watch industry who everyone seems to know. He’s an outsized presence who seemingly manages to be everywhere at once and have a hand in every facet of the watch industry. Over the last few years though, his name has come to be associated primarily with Massena LAB, where he consistently produces some of the most talked about limited editions and collaborations on the market. This latest release follows closely on the heels of a watch introduced last month. That watch - a collaboration between Massena LAB, Pagès, and Phillips Auction House in association with Bass & Russo - debuted the M690 movement used in the Absinthe and drew inspiration in its layout from the iconic (and record-setting) 1952 Patek Philippe ref. 2458 produced for J.B. Champion, Jr.  That watch was one of only two Patek wrist watches to have been fitted with an Observatory-grade movement, and its unique d...

Up Close: Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Antimagnétique “Only Watch”

The two most important examples of independent watchmaking in Only Watch 2024 are arguably the stealthy F.P. Journe Chronomètre Furtif Bleu and the Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Antimagnétique, each a significant creation of a leading watchmaker of his generation (and interesting enough, both are sports watches). Inspired by mid-20th century explorer’s watches that were magnetism-resistant, the Chronomètre Antimagnétique (RRCA) is an elegant but robust watch with a stainless steel case and an entirely new calibre equipped with an indirectly-driven centre seconds with a hacking, zero-reset mechanism. In its Only Watch form, the RRCA is a unique watch but also a prototype for a new line of elegant sports watches. NB: The watch pictured is a work in progress that is not entirely finished so the dial is a prototype and the movement is not perfectly clean. It will be delivered in a perfect state to the eventual owner. Initial thoughts Many of the RRCA’s details bring to mind mid-20th century “sports” watches. Not the sports watches we know of today, but rather the water-resistant Patek Philippe watches made in the 1940s and 1950s for gentlemen sportsmen and adventurers. This reflects with Rexhep Rexhepi’s respect for traditional Geneva watchmaking, which is also expressed in the RRCC but in a different manner. The RRCA subtly marks a new direction for Rexhep Rexhepi’s aesthetics. It’s clearly a thoughtful evolution of the RRCC. While the RRCC is a dress watch, ...

Highlights: Unorthodox Sports Watches at Sotheby’s Hong Kong

Following our round up of independent watchmaking highlights at the Sotheby’s upcoming Important Watches I auction in Hong Kong, we now turn to something more conventional and even fashionable: high-end sports watches. But naturally we’re not going to run through the unorthodox examples that need no extra publicity (though one “hype” watch might have slipped in). Our selection of a half dozen includes an early Richard Mille and possibly a value buy, a IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Monopusher Edition that has an interesting and little known movement. Important Watches I starts at 10:00 am (GMT +8) on October 5, 2022. Registration for bidding and the full catalogue can be accessed here. The RM002-V2 Lot 2161: A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus An entirely new collection that debuted just in time for the modern brand’s 25th anniversary, the Odysseus is an outlier for a watchmaker that historically focused on high-end, classical watches. Though the Odysseus sports a design that’s unsurprising for Lange, it is the brand’s first watch with an integrated bracelet. More notably, the Odysseus was the first regular production Lange watch in steel. But we’re not here to talk about the heavily-hyped steel model, instead this is the model in white gold, which arguably offers more value than the steel version at market prices. The integrated-bracelet sports watch arena has long been dominated by the Royal Oak and Nautilus, so what makes the Odysseus a contender? The same characte...

Phillips to Offer F.P. Journe Souscription Tourbillon and Resonance

Postponed from its usual mid-May date to end-June, Phillips’ spring watch auction is Geneva is nonetheless the full works, with 214 lots on offer, including the four spectacular Patek Philippe watches from the collection of Jean-Claude Biver, including a ref. 1518 “pink on pink” and a second-series ref. 2499. Also amongst the offerings at the Geneva Watch Auction XI are two important examples of contemporary watchmaking – a pair of F.P. Journe souscription watches consigned by the original owner – Lorenz Bäumer. A jeweller whose workshop is on the storied Place Vendome in Paris, Mr Bäumer is perhaps best known for crafted the tiara worn by Charlene Wittstock when the former Olympic swimmer wed Prince Albert II of Monaco in 2011. But Mr Bäumer is also a watch aficionado who met François-Paul Journe via a mutual friend. Mr Journe had then decided to launch his own brand by taking inspiration from Abraham-Louis Breguet, who had offered clients the opportunity to purchase a newly-developed, fairly-affordable watch by first putting down a deposit – thus “subscribing” to the offer. The jeweller became a “subscriber” and paid the down payment for a Tourbillon Remontoir d’Egalite “Souscription”, subsequently receiving the watch numbered “14/20” on the dial. A year later, Mr Bäumer was approached once again to “subscribe” for the new Chronomètre à Resonance “Souscription”. He took up the offer, and again got the watch number “14”....

The Observatory Chronometers that Timed the Tour de France

Watches once owned by prominent personalities are captivating. Paul Newman’s “Paul Newman” Daytona, the Rolex “Bao Dai”, Buzz Aldrin’s Speedmaster Moonwatch, the Henry Graves Supercomplication, and even J. Pierpont Morgan’s lost pocket watch, are amongst most sought after timepieces in the world. In fact, a good number of the most expensive watches ever sold at auction have notable provenance, which turns a mere watch into a historical artefact. Probably the most important timekeepers in cycling, these are a pair of Longines split-seconds stop watches – refs. 7411 and 8350 respectively – that were used by Jean Pitallier, the former president of the French Cycling Federation, to time the Tour de France in the fading glory days of mechanical sports timing, just before quartz stopwatches took over. In fact, the pair of stopwatches are not merely chronographs, but also observatory certified chronometers. Watchmaking once represented the cutting edge research of mechanical engineering. Observatory time trials at Neuchatel, Geneva or Kew were rigorous scientific affairs, with movements Peseux 260 and Zenith 135 competing to be the most accurate movement in the world. But such movements were three-hand, time-only. Aside from tourbillon movements, very few complicated calibres were submitted to timing contests. Mr Pitallier’s pair of Longines were both certified by the Neuchatel observatory. The swan song of competitive timekeeping In modern day watch collectin...