Advantageous Auctions and Rock Your Body: Important Watches at Sotheby's, 19 April

Piguet & Meylan, The Allegory of Spring: Gold, Enamel and Pearl-Set Musical Jump Center Seconds Watch made for the Chinese Market,

circa 1815 (lot 9, est. $40/60,000)
 

Sotheby’s New York spring sale of Important Watches will be held on 19 April and will offer a fantastic selection of pieces from contemporary wristwatches to vintage collector’s pieces to Art Deco desk clocks. Many of the lots have never previously been offered at auction, having been in the collections of private connoisseurs since their original purchase. Prior to the auction, the sale will be on view at Sotheby’s New York galleries beginning 14 April.  

Highlighting the selection of pocketwatches this season is an exceptional Piguet & Meylan Gold, Enamel and Pearl-Set Musical Jump Center Seconds Watch that depicts the Allegory of Spring, made circa 1815 (lot 9, est. $40/60,000*). Piguet & Meylan are particularly known for their watches made for the Chinese Market. As such, decoration was very important to the creation of all of their pieces, and they employed some of the best enamel painters  to decorate their watches. Today, pieces like this are the prized possessions of some of the most discerning and sophisticated watch collectors, both in the Eastern and Western markets.  

 The sale will also comprise a group of Art Deco desk timepieces including a Cartier Silver, 18K Gold, Enamel, Ivory and Diamond-Set 8-Day Desk Timepiece, circa 1908 (lot 85, est. $25/35,000) and a European Watch & Clock Co., Inc. Rare Gilt, Coral, Enamel and Red Lacquer Chinoiserie Desk Timepiece, circa 1930 (lot 86, est. $20/30,000).   

Among the Rolexes on offer is a Stainless Steel ‘Paul Newman’ Rolex Daytona Chronograph Wristwatch with Registers, Tachometer and Bracelet, circa 1966 Ref 6239 Cosmograph Daytona ‘Paul Newman’ (lot 134, est. $45/55,000). 

The auction will also feature a collection of modern complicated pieces, all from a Private American Collector (lots 15-31). Included among the diverse selection of makers is a Hublot Limited Edition 18K Pink Gold and Titanium Skeletonized Tourbillon Single-Button Chronograph Wristwatch with Register and 5-Day Power Reserve, circa 2007, Ref 308 Bigger Bang (lot 28, est. $70/90,000) and a Richard Mille Platinum Tonneau Tourbillon Dual Time Zone Wristwatch with Power Reserve and Torque Indication, circa 2007, RM 003 (lot 31, est. $80/120,000).  An A. Lange & Söhne Fine Platinum Limited Edition Tourbillon Wristwatch with Date and Power Reserve, circa 2000, No. 110/150 Lange 1 Tourbillon will also be featured (lot 19, est. $80/120,000).   

Sotheby’s is also pleased to offer a wonderful grouping of Patek Philippe watches highlighted by Very Rare Pink Gold Automatic Ref. 2526 with unusual Arabic numerals, retailed by Serpico Y Laino (lot 183. est. $40/60,000). Patek Philippe launched Ref. 2526, its first automatic  model, in 1953, and ceased production in 1960. It is an iconic reference and highly sought after by collectors for its understated elegance. The dial configuration of this example is only known on two other examples from Ref. 2526, one of which is in the Patek Philippe museum. The final lot of the sale is a Fine and Rare 18K Yellow Gold Autotmatic Perpetual Calendar Wristwatch with Red Dot Leap-Year Indication and Moon-Phases, Retailed by Beyer (lot 203, est. $150/250,000). This example is the first from this reference to come to auction featuring a red dot leap year indication as well as the retailer stamp from Beyer, the prominent Zurich based watch boutique. 

http://www.sothebys.com/

*estimates do not include buyer’s premium