In the vintage car world- there is one king of the hill. It is Ferrari. In the vintage world watch things are not so clear anymore.

For a long time Patek ruled the vintage auction market.

With their limited production and high quality standards, not to mention some of the best complications in the world (split second, tourbillon, perpetual calendar, chronograph) it is natural that Patek achieves the highest auction results. Again the top lot of this years Geneva May Auction at Christies was also a rare Patek that fetched CHF 1.2m.

But look beneath the surface and the results tell a different story.

The results at Christies confirm a trend which has been happening for about two years now. Rolex has been catching up to Patek (we started writing about a while back see here). In fact you will hear it now officially: 

We believe there is a new king of the auction world in vintage watches. It is Rolex.

The universal appeal of this tool watch maker is as strong as never before.

What did well within Rolex? It was mostly watches with history that collectors sought out. Omani issued watches were very strong, but also COMEX issued were in strong demand-evidence that today collectors are seeking out Rolex with history. Paul Newman Daytona was expectedly strong. It seems that the new lowest level for a Paul Newman is now firmly CHF 100’ooo (but it is still possible to overpay for a Daytona- see Lot 148 below).

Collectors once again differentiated between quality (a case in point the Big Crown diving watches faired poorly because their condition were mediocre). Watches with high quality – soared past their estimates. Examples include both a stunning small crown 4Liner, ref 6536/1, a beautiful 6264 PN Daytona as well as a nicely aged tropical GMT Master 6542. While prices were very high for all things Rolex- there were two exceptional bargains to be had.

Either collectors or dealers (probably both) were sleeping and a super rare reference sold for nothing relative to today’s prices.

by Edmond Saran