Phillips New York held a $26.4 million watch auction over the weekend, setting a record for watchmaker Roger Smith with a unique pocket watch that also set the record for anyone what a British watch. Estimated at over $1 million, it grossed $4.9 million.
The Roger Smith pocket watch is the product of five years of labor to build a watch entirely by hand in order to impress watchmaker George Daniels enough to earn an apprenticeship in his famous Isle of Man workshop. In 1998, after his second try, he finally got the job with this watch, having honed the 32 skills required to create a watch in “The Daniels Method”. The price is the fourth highest ever for a pocket watch at auction.
“The auction was masterfully organized by Phillips and the price achieved by the watch exceeded all expectations,” Smith said after the sale. “It’s really a profound moment for me. Pocket watch No. 2 is the most important watch I’ve made and for the watch to have generated such interest, it was also very humbling.
At the same auction, a Patek Philippe yellow gold Reference 2481 wristwatch set a record for the reference series at $1.1 million, as did an Audemars Piguet Reference 25701PT which sold for 635,000. $. The Audemars Piguet beat its high estimate of $120,000, as did two FP Journe watches, both estimated at up to $280,000, one selling for $558,800, the other for $469,900. Rolex, Zenith, Cartier and some independent manufacturers also set records.
Patek Philippe Reference 1518. Courtesy of Sotheby’s.
Sotheby’s New York, meanwhile, fetched $16.4 million in its watch sale that ended Friday, where 94% of the lots found buyers. The sale was led by a 1946 Patek Philippe “Pink-on-Pink” gold wristwatch, a reference 1518, which fetched $3.9 million to a private Asian buyer. It had remained in the hands of the seller since its purchase in 1947. Only 281 examples of the reference series were created, and this is the 15th ever known.
Two Rolexes once owned by Paul Newman each fetched $1.1 million. One of them, a Rolex Daytona ‘Zenith’ reference 16520 in stainless steel, was presented to the actor and motor racing champion on the occasion of his team’s victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1995. A 70 years old, he was the oldest pilot to have won the competition, a feat still held today. A total of six Newman watches were featured in the sale.
Paul Newman, wearing his Rolex Daytona ‘Zenith’ Reference 16520 watch, congratulates driver Sébastien Bourdais after winning the Champ Car World Series Grand Premio Tecate in 2007 in Mexico City. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
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