With the record set yesterday evening, courtesy of the Rolex ref. 6062, “Bao Dai”, which has now become the most expensive Rolex to have ever been sold at an auction, spirits were high at the La Reserve in Geneva, as Aurel Bacs took to the podium once more to work his magic.
This evening’s lots included two varieties of Patek 2499s and yet another 6062 — this time in steel — which took the top marks. With that said, let’s have a look at the top five performers.
Top Lots
Lot 237: Rolex ref. 6263 screw-pusher Paul Newman Daytona in yellow gold sold for CHF3,722,000
Ask anyone who knows a thing or two about Paul Newman Daytonas and they will tell you that yellow gold, screw-pusher variations do not exist (we asked Eric Ku). They don’t, except for this one example. Call it the “lemon dial” or the “legend”, the fact remains that there is only one proper, out of factory 6263 Paul Newman that exists in a yellow gold case.
The last this watch surfaced was in the hands of Antiquorum, where it sold for CHF841,300. Safe to say that, that record’s been thoroughly shattered today. This is now also the most expensive Paul Newman in existence, beating the previous record of CHF1.985 million held by the RCO “Oyster Sotto” screw-pusher ref. 6263.
Lot 172: Rolex Triple Calendar ref. 6062 in Stainless Steel, sold for CHF1,930,000
Providing a wonderful symmetry with last night’s performance, this evening’s second top lot was yet again a 6062, this time in steel. Launched by Patek Philippe at the 1950 Basel fair, it is known that the 6062 was produced in steel, pink and yellow gold. However, the number of pieces that have survived the half a century and are known in the market presently are barely 24 odd. And fewer still are in the condition that lot 172 was presented in.
Lot 183: Patek Philippe ref. 2523/1 dual crown world time with Tiffany stamped dial sold for CHF1,450,000
The third lot to have broken the million mark was a 1963 ref. 2523/1 Patek Phillipe world time. The rarity of this reference is severe. There only exists nine pieces (in all dial and case combinations). However, only one is known to bear the Tiffany stamp. The reason why there are so few of these is because when the world time complication was first introduced to the world, it wasn’t a terribly popular choice among people. Hard to imagine considering the love that collectors pour over them today.
Lot 171: Patek Philippe ref. 2497 perpetual calendar, the “Sydney Rose” sold for CHF742,000
The top lots this evening — more or less — exploded in a cluster. The second highest hammer price went to the pink gold Patek perpetual calendar, nicknamed the “Sydney Rose”. The 2497 was the first serially produced perpetual calendar from the maison in 1951. This particular example was produced in 1954 and is listed in the auction essay to be a first series piece, which had the Arabic and dot raised hour markers, whereas the later series had baton markers.
Now to find out why the watch has earned such a nickname, go ahead to read the complete lot listing here.
Lot 235: Rolex Paul Newman Dayton ref. 6263 Mk 1 sold for CHF550,000
Yet another 6263 Paul Newman graces the top lots list. This one, a highly coveted Mark 1 variation of the watch, was produced in 1969 and has developed a chocolate coloration around its minute track. It’s been some time since a Mark 1 6263 has graced auctions, but as evident here, they remain as desirable as ever.
Now it’s important to understand that the reason why the Mark 1 6263 is sought out as such is because, these would’ve been the earliest examples of the Daytona being housed in the water-resistant Oyster cases with the screw pushers as opposed to the earlier pump-pushers. Read all about the hierarchy and timeline of Paul Newman screw-pushers here.
View the complete sale results on Phillips Watches website here. And now, on to Hong Kong.
Phillips Watches Spring 2017 Hong Kong Auction Details
30 May 1pm & 6pm HKT
Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong
5 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong (map)
Public Viewing
25 – 29 May
Thursday – Monday 10am-6pm
