Insight Phillips Geneva auction highlights Nov 2016: Part II – A Rolex special
Fine WatchesCollector's InsightFine WatchesEventsIt is no secret, I have a weakness for vintage Rolex.
And Phillips has plenty of über cool Rolex watches coming up for auction in November 2016 sale. There are some super rare and good condition Rolex watches on offer – everything from a rare and perhaps unique Panda 6263 Tiffany signed to some hyper rare explorers (ever heard of a military Rolex 6150)?
For serious Rolex collectors – this post should get your pulse racing.
You know Phillips has some pretty cool stuff when I say I am going to start with some standard stuff – a circa 1970 Rolex Panda Ref 6263.
Now a 6263 Daytona exotic dial Paul Newman is anything but standard and normal BUT compared to watches you will see later – yup this is pretty standard. Rolex 6263 panda dials are for many collectors the most timeless and sought after normal Paul Newman with screw down pushers. Most big collectors own one and these watches are, relatively speaking, not that rare.
But when you consider this dial has a Tiffany & Co signature on the dial – things get more interesting.
I have never seen a 6263 Tiffany Panda signed dial before so I assume that they are quite rare. No comment on the condition yet – need to inspect it more closely. Bezel looks correct and dial looks fine at first glance.
The estimate of this watch is CHF 250 – 500’000.
Next we move on to a spade – enameled cloisonné 1951 Rolex ref 6085. Time only enamel Rolex watches are very rare and always sought after.
What makes this watch particularly interesting is the motif – a dragon which is also the most sought after among collectors. According to Phillips there are only 5 known examples in the world with the Dragon motif – and the strong condition of this watch – makes it particularly important.
The estimate of this watch at CHF 500’000 -1’000’000 reflects the rarity of Enamel cloisonné dialed Rolex watches.
The next watch is also seldom seen but at least more well known to me. It is the 1959 Rolex 6538 big crown with 4Line dial.
What is special about this watch is that brown or tropical dial that is even and extremely attractive. Notice the 4L is in different colors (silver, white and gold). This watch will undoubtedly attract some interest. I did not have time to study the condition but it seems attractive. A 6538 Four line dial is rare but one that is this even in tropical condition is hyper rare.
What is indeed interesting is that this watch holds the world record for any big crown submariner at auction.
This is the EXACT watch that sold three years ago at Christies for CHF 519’000. It will be very interesting to see if this breaks its old world record. I think it will come close. Very close. But the 2013 price is tough to beat.
The estimate of Phillips is CHF 300-600’000.
I don’t own any Rolex Daytona yet.
But if I were to buy one this 1963 Rolex Daytona 6239 Double swiss underline would be among my very first choice.
This watch is extremely rare and what is especially unusual about this is the following: The dial seems in very good condition with even the correct sub-dial hands (most sub-dial hands are swapped for white that is incorrect according to BEC) not to mention the correct hour and minute hands and chrono hand. Additionally the sub dials of this 6239 have turned tropical, making the watch even more attractive to a certain class of collectors.
Ben Clymer (BEC) of Hodinkee wrote an excellent piece on the 6239 double swiss here and he told me judging from the picture alone that the watch is a good as a 6239 double swiss as he has ever seen. Another good attribute of this watch is the correct and very rare bezel insert marked to 300 and includes the 275 marker too of course.
Further more – this is the first watch of the EPIC Daytona sale to re-appear at auction. Yes – this watch was part of that legendary Lesson One sale of Christies back in 2013 where it fetched a staggering CHF 269’ooo. As rare as this watch is and as good of a condition this watch is in – I am not sure we are going to see this result be broken three years later in end 2016. Again it is going to be a close call. Very close. This one is going to be very interesting to watch.
The watch is estimated at CHF 100’000 – 200’000.
The next watch is an absolute highlight in my view: It is a very rare 1953 Rolex Ref 6150 (Explorer) issued by the British military. Yes you read that correctly. This is a 6150 military issued watch. Pretty cool I have to admit.
Technically it is not an Explorer (although most collectors refer to this watch as an Explorer), as the watch is dated 1953 – the same year Hillary climbed Mount Everest – and at that time Rolex did not have the trademark for the Explorer name yet on the dial (notice the absence of the Explorer – only the word precision is written on the dial). The watch looks honest with a nice lume that has turned brown / greenish.
I did not test for radio activeness and I did not loupe the watch but my instinct tells me this is good. The real kick for the collector with this 6150 is the backside. Take a look. Military markings that read HSCD – according to Phillips that stands for ‘Hydrographic service, clearance diver‘.
This is one heck of a rare watch – and the new owner can take confidence that he will be the only one to turn up at a Rolex gathering with this rare bird. Much cooler than any Rolex Millsub 5513 or 5517 in my view!
The estimate of this watch is CHF 10-15’000.
I can assure you on thing. This watch will sell for way more than that. I am even willing to make a bet on this.
We continue with Explorers – next up the successor to the 6150 – a 1953 Rolex ref 6350 honeycomb dial with pencil hands.
Many of you know I am big fan of the honeycomb 6350 explorer and also indeed do own one. They are rare and beautiful watches. This version that Phillips is selling is an extremely rare pencil hands version. I looked at the dial with a loupe and can tell you with confidence that it is correct. Lume with very high certainty is original and the hands correct and original too. Just earlier in May this year Christies sold a 6350 Honeycomb dial for nearly CHF 70’000.
The estimate of this watch is CHF 12-18’000. I can again assure you one thing: This watch will sell for a multiple of that.
The next Explorer we are going to show is no less cool.
It is a 1958/59 Rolex Explorer ref 6610 so the successor to the 6350. The 6610 is a rare beast too and while not as attractive in my view as the 6350 – this Explorer is worth taking a look at. The dial is superb, flawless in my view and perfect in shine. From the front it looks like a normal 6610 – right?
Turn the watch around and this is where things start to get interesting.
RPS stands for Royal Geographic Society, with the words Sovereign Mount Everest written after.
The 6610 was introduced in 1959 and so we can safely assume that this watch saw the peak of Mount Everest long after Sir Edmund Hillary did (he did so in 1953). None-the less, this is a very cool watch that has relevant history for an Explorer model. I can only assume the Royal British photographic society used this watch to climb (or attempt to climb) mount Everest.
Pretty damn cool if you an Explorer collector.
The next Rolex is a major highlight at Phillips in my view.
At first glance I thought it was a 6202 turn-o-graph and did not pay attention to it other to observe it was a rare split writing turn-o graph with honeycomb dial. It was only when Aurel Bacs asked me how I liked the Monometer that I realized I might have missed something. This watch is a 1953 Rolex Ref 6202 Monometer.
If your not sure what a Monometer is, don’t worry. I had no clue either. According to limited research I have found, the Monometer is a hyper rare diving watch first introduced at the same time as Rolex made the first submariners around 1953/54. A monometer is a scientific instrument used to measure pressure (Credit: CD).
The reference on this Rolex is indeed a 6202 – the reference usually reserved for the turn-o-graph. Indeed optically speaking the watch looks EXACTLY like a Rolex turn – o -graph with a honeycomb dial and split writing version (which is the rarest 6202 dial version). It is only upon closer inspection on the dial that you read Monometer below Rolex.
Again due to time constraints – I did not test for radioactivity and cannot really comment on the condition. The last time a Monometer sold was in 2013 in March in Geneva at Antiquorum for CHF 45’ooo. I think this watch is far more attractive than the one Antiquorum had- this is honeycomb and Antiquorum’s was not.
A quick world on provenance of this watch: Since the watch is so rare I asked Phillips to give me some more details on where it comes from. It is from a European collector who has owned for more than 25 years and bought it in the US.
The estimate of this watch is CHF 20-30’000 and I would not be surprised if this proves conservative. Find me another Monometer please. Exactly!
The last Rolex we will look at in this wonderful 1960 Rolex 1675 GMT with Fuchsia bezel insert with pointed crown guards and comes with box and papers. The astute collector will notice something else highly appealing – this watch is an underline dial.
The estimate of this Rolex 1675 underline is a conservative CHF 10-15’000. It should achieve a price well in excess of this.
For part one of Phillips Auction highlights Nov 2016 please see here.
