The beginning of the calendar year is always a bit slower for auctions. Collectors and houses are coming down from the high of the fall auction season and trade shows have historically dominated the earlier months of the year. But, there are always great finds if you look in the right places: take a peak at our auction calendar for 2020 and you’ll see some sneaky good auctions from smaller houses, as well as some lower-profile auctions from the big ones.
Christie’s is hosting an online auction, “A New Decade of Time” from February 25 through March 10. Here are a few highlights from the sale, as well as a few lots to be wary of.
Golfers especially will like this one. The Cartier Pasha Golf combines two hobbies — watches and golf — for which I’d bet the overlap in the Venn diagram is about as large as your local country club is white and male, into one cool watch. The Golf has a special '“complication” that allows its wearer to track the strokes of up to four players, up to 99 strokes. Giving the watch this functionality meant including a total of six buttons on the watch, giving the case a quite distinctive profile.
Famed watch designer Gerald Genta (Royal Oak, Nautilus, etc.) is also known for his work with Cartier. In 1985, he took the Cartier Pasha, a model with roots dating back to 1943, and reworked it, eventually making it one of the most popular models in Cartier’s collection. His influence is seen in the Pasha Golf too, as you can also find Genta-branded watches with the same golf complication.
Lot 14 estimate: $12,000 to $18,000
Rolex Air-King Ref. 5500 with dial for the Prime Minister of Bahrain
We’re fans of the vintage Rolex Air-King reference 5500 (see our in-depth article on the reference here), so this lot immediately caught my eye. At 6 o’clock it features the red crest of Bahrain and royal signature, lending it some desirability and provenance.
Forget for a second the fact that the dial features a crest and signature representing Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, a guy who’s been prime minister of the tiny Middle Eastern archipelago since 1971 and has been criticized for his human rights abuses — and also happened to marry his cousin. Dials with unique Middle Eastern provenance like this tend to command a premium (if only because egotistical despots make sure this is the case at auction), so this one’s worth a look. This particular example dates to 1989, right at the end of the reference 5500’s 20-plus year run in the Rolex catalog.
Lot 135 estimate: $4,000 to $8,000
Rolex Daytona Ref. 16520 Retailed by Tiffany
It’s perhaps a wise move for Christie’s to have this Daytona from the late 1980s “headlining” this smaller online auction; it might get lost below a pile of vintage Paul Newman Daytonas at a bigger live auction. But this is a legitimate collectible piece, and as sure a bet as any watch to rise in value.
The Reference 16520 was Rolex’s first automatic chronograph, using a modified Zenith El Primero movement. Of course, the Tiffany & Co. stamp at 12 o’clock steals the show, but note this is also a rare '“inverted 6” variant, only adding to the watch’s collectibility.
Lot 165 estimate: $50,000 to $80,000
Rolex Daytona Reference 16520 ‘Patrizzi’
Staying with the Reference 16520, Christie’s also has a rare “Patrizzi” dial in its online auction. Around 1994 and 1995, the black reference 16520s manufactred by Rolex used a specific organic varnish to protect the dial. But, the lacquer did not provide sufficient covering, and over the years the silver outer tracks to the sub dials have typically developed a brown patina, with the aging taking on a different character on each example.
It’s rare to see such signs of aging on more modern Rolex models, so you can bet collectors have gone crazy for these variants. This example has a W serial number, indicating it was manufactured in 1995, correct for these “Patrizzi” dials.
Estimate: $20,000 to $40,000
Patek Phillipe Desk Clock
I don’t have much to say about this one other than it’s interesting. Like, why was Patek Phillipe making a radio-controlled desk clock in the 1970s?
It’s cool to see that a brand that also introduced something like the Nautilus in the same decade also built this seemingly out-of-left-field desk clock for some reason.
If you’d rather have a large Audemars Piguet wall clock to adorn your office, that’s an option too.
Buyer beware
As always, there are a few less desirable lots at this online auction too:
Rolex Explorer 1016 with re-lumed hands and mis-matched end links
A Heuer two-register chronograph with a re-printed dial
An Eberhard Extra-Fort chronograph with a re-printed dial
A refinished Zenith reference 16518 chronograph
A refinished, re-lumed Universal Geneve Compur
Finally, it’s always fun to see a Gevril Tribeca “Paul Newman” at auction, and if nothing else we’ll see what price the new Rolex GMT-Master II reference 126710BLNR achieves at auction.