My Geneva Rolex Auction Report Nov 2018

My Geneva Rolex Auction Report Nov 2018. Is Sam Hines the new Aurel Bacs?

This original owner Doctor’s Pulsometer Ref 6239 Cosmograph with red Daytona sold for hammer Chf 680.000,= making it all in Chf 831.000,= the most expensive vintage Rolex from the weekend sold by Sotheby’s!! Who had that excepted? The same auction house sold last season prior Sam Hines came to save it only for 2 million, now the total sales result was 12.2 million.

My Geneva Auction Report – November 2018

Also the most expensive watch this weekend during the November 2018 watch auctions in Geneva was by Sam Hines, Sotheby’s with the exceptional Ref 2499 Pater Philippe sold and signed by Asprey made n early 4 million (Chf 3.915.000,= million). Also Christies has beaten Phillips with their excellent result of their fresh to the market 1st series Ref 2499 sold and signed by Serpico Y Laino for 3.25 million. Although the biggest sales were elsewhere this time, Phillips highest sale was just 1 million dollar for the PPC Ref 3974 they’re still the market leader with their 22 million on sales, well done to the whole team👍

So whats happening people ask me. My answer is simple, a watch auctioneer is as successful as the watches he has in his sale. The market always decides at the end of the day but yes it’s indeed the first time in many successful years Mr Bacs was not the individual record sales weekend winner and that must hurt…

The unique PPC Asprey first serve Ref 2499 sold for Chf 3.915.000,= million

Lets be clear, it’s all a matter of sourcing down great watches and giving the seller the confidence that all will be fine. The moment this stops the love is over and buyers / sellers move on to satisfy their needs. The world has become so small and easy to excess that no matter where or who the watch offers, collectors and dealers will find it and try to buy it or bid on it. If its online or by the phone, the days are over you need to join the auction floor to buy a great watch. The auctioneer interacts nowadays almost more with the camera that is live streaming to the worldwide bidders online then with the auction room. I happen to notice that the auctions preview and auctions sales are less visited by important collectors, maybe because the prices are so high now or because he has something better to do, most of them stay home as they already inspected the watches that they want and hardly come to join us in Geneva anymore ;(

Some crispy vintage Rolex got sold successfully at Phillips Watches, the Steel 8171 sold for 175K, the really nice 6236 Killy brought 700K all in, the brown 6238 almost 500K and the 6265 Oyster Paul Newman 445K. Thats in total 1,82 million for these 4 vintage Rolex!! Needles to say that this handful doubled in value over the last couple of years!

Collecting vintage watches has become an expensive hobby as some results show us. If you take a step back and look from a distance to the auction results, you will notice that many watches nowadays easily do 50 to 100K. I mean watches like Heuer, Longines, Omega, Eberhard etc easily cost you that much. I know i’m getting older and have been around for quite some while now but still if I see a Heuer sell for 50-60-80K my brain tells me these are really huge results. Back in the days like 20-30 years ago also everybody wanted to buy only Rolex and Patek Philippe watches. All other brands where hardly interesting ( except maybe AP, Vacheron, Jaeger and IWC) but the real business was always Rolex & PPC. To see that second group of watch brands selling so high tells me that our market in general is well educated and confident and very healthy developing. The all over results this weekend where absolutely good. Maybe it was not so spectacular as other times but at the end the results speak for themselves.

Outside the auction houses some interesting collectors initiative have been presented. The personal book from top collector Sandro Frattini and the one from a Rolex divers / tool watch collector with yet another important collection. A lot of pure hardcore passion from guys investing in vintage watches many years ago. The ultimate watch collector: Sandro Frantini.

Super nice positive guy with the most incredible collection in the world. He has been buying since 50 years ( back then I was the only one so it was easy 😉 and collected more the 3000 icons. His collection is so big it takes him days to visit them at the several banks. Finally with his amazing boom “My Time” he stepped out of the shadow of his master / close friend and watch dealer tycoon Davide Parmegiani.

Now the word is out and everybody is impressed to see a part of his collection, this will have an positive impact on collecting watches in general. If you’re wife thinks you’re crazy, show here Sandro’s book, the impossible collection. I mean 8 x different black dialed gold 6062’s and 2 x steel 1518, Yachtmaster Prototype, Split second you name it. Not 1 or the best, no 10 or more 8171’s. Just mind-blowing. Then the fact Sandro never ever has worn his watches makes it even more special. The ultimate patina watch book you could have named it as well. Sandro wears a gimmick plastic watch he gives away in his vintage watch themed Hotels called L’Orologi .In credible man who has my utmost respect 🙏 order his masterwork by following this link…

One of the many interesting pages in Sandro’s book is this summery of Daytona’s, see yourself…

A bit closer look of the oddities…

Davide Parmegiani sales booth at Des Bergues…

The new book by John Goldberger and Daniel Bourn: A Journey into the Deep at Phillips…

Buddies John Goldberger and Daniel Bourn just launched yet another great vintage Rolex book called A Journey into the Deep..

The holly grail, Deep Sea Special No 1. If you want to know more about the history read my RPReport about them over here..

Order this wonderful and important vintage Rolex divers book by following this link here to the John Goldberger website…

The single red hit 700K…

Another new focus : Life before Daytona. Pucci told me that after he finishes the Perpetual Daytona book next 2 months, the next book will be dedicated to the chronographs period before the Daytona….