Christies New York December 2017 Watch Auction

UPDATE from the Christies New York December 2017 Watch Auction with the final results: All the results you can find by following this link over here… 

• Almost $1.1 million for the RCO and big winner of the sale!

• Nearly $ 500.000,= for the Big Crown. It’s happening, the hunt for early Submariners is officially on now, after the Daytona the Submariner is the must have as this results shows us. A nice glossy 4 line for 500K, imagine! Congratulations to the new owner!

• The JPS fetched a $ 672.500,= and beats the 2499….

• No surprise for insiders, the amazing tropical Ref 6234 sold for $552.500,= all in, well deserved as it’s one of the best comic g to the market in 2017, many congrats to the new owner!

• The 2499 had a hard time, service back and damages on the dial made the price stop at $636.500,=

Looks like the “Paul Newman- Paul Newman record sale” did had some impact on Daytona prices. Crisp examples sell much higher as you can see below from the Christies & Sotbebys NY results…

The upcoming Christies New York watch auction on 7 December 2017 is a real must see for Rolex & Patek Philippe collectors. Many great, fresh to the market, first owner and crispy models are being offered that I like to discuss today with you. I’m personally interested to see which of the following 2 iconic references will fetch more money at the Christie’s auction; the Rolex RCO Daytona MK1 ref 6263 or the Patek Philippe Ref 2499 first generation ?

Both are first owner, never been offered before and both have a estimate of $500.000 to $ 1million. The Rolex RCO has been serviced by Rolex as we can see from the newer hands, crystal and bezel, happily Rolex didn’t change the MK1 pushers and left the dial as it is. The PPC 2499 is also worn and polished and has a service case back…

The question by it self which of these two is more valuable is exceptional to say the least. Long time collectors can’t believe that the market has change so much towards sports Rolex (and all others iconic watch brands) that a Rolex chrono powered by a Valjoux caliber base is worth the same as the mother of all watches, the Ref 2499. But things do change and it wouldn’t be the first time we see sport Rolex beat Patek Philippe during auctions….

Compliment to Christies for finding above trio of great vintage Rolex coming up at their NY sale! Well done, i’m impressed!!

Above the RCO MK1 up close and below the catalogue description…

Many thanks Sabine for sending me your catalogue again!…

The 4 line Big Crown Rolex Submariner Ref 6538, from 1957 ( with typical 1957 red triangle insert) all glossy dial and big lollipop second hand is truly a gem. Not often you come across an fine preserved example as this one…

Since Christie’s recently sold a 6538 big crown at their online sale for $324.500,= ( estimated 100-150.000) it’s no secret that the market is well aware about the rarity of these stunners and after all Daytona’s have doubled in price in last 1-2 year, the next logic reference to follow this increase is are the crown less Submariners, specially when they are all glossy gilt black or tropical, the prices are exploding. I wouldn’t be surprised if this one will end up near 400K.

The case show that the previous owner really enjoyed wearing his stunner…

The John Player Special is estimated $ 300 – 500.000,= and very much sought after due to it’s sexy look….

Not often the market finds another unknown ref 2499 and apparently the owner really enjoyed wearing his…

I’ve asked the following question to hard core collectors many times before and I’ll question the same here, can somebody explain me how this dial got damages? I mean we often see little marks / scratches on the dial where the watch maker had to put back the hands but this, this is more then just a clumsy watchmaker… Did the crystal break? Was the dial loose and it got damaged while it was stored? Any watchmaker would had to know that these dial, except being ultra rare, the costs to make these hand made emailed dial was serious expensive compared to the RCO dial from Rolex for instance. Its Stern vs Singer, lets see who wins!

Then this amazing tropical Rolex Ref 6034 is coming up for sale….

with an estimate $ 100-200.000,= that will be shattered, my bet is 500K+

Interesting detail, the 2 x added silver T on top of the telemeter index, below up close. One of the very first “transitional radiation signs” ( like Underline & Exclamation mark) which proofs again that Role was well aware about the use of radium and tritium.

Some more interesting vintage Rolex coming top for sale….

 Then a early Omega Speedmaster…

UV light always shows any possible restorations and very important tool to determine the originality…

$ 50-100.000 estimate

Crisp Tornek Rayville TR-900 with it’s exceptional; “moisture meter” on the dial, indicating if moisture had entered the watch by changing color of the added 2 color round disc at 6 o’clock. On this one you clearly see the two tone, which shows us no water had entered the case…

Estimate 50-100K this one is logically to fetch the highest estimate or more…

More rare Patek coming up which I didn’t preview as these were not available in Geneva last November….

The gold PN got withdrawn…

Go check out the whole Christies New York catalogue by following this link

New York