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Can’t afford a $100m Picasso painting? What about his watch instead? Can’t afford a $100m Picasso painting? What about his watch instead?

Can’t afford a $100m Picasso painting? What about his watch instead?

Nick Kenyon

Last Thursday, Christies sold Picasso’s Woman Sitting by a Window in New York for USD$103.4M, the bidding lasting a full 19 minutes. This was the fifth Picasso to sell for more than USD$100M and a sign that the Málaga-born artist is as popular as ever. But while demand for his artwork is white-hot, a Picasso watch is coming up for sale with a slightly more modest estimate of between AUD$19,000 and AUD$28,000.

Picasso watch
Woman Sitting by a Window by Picasso, which sold at Christies last Thursday. Image: Reuters

The petite 32mm steel wristwatch was made by a little known watchmaker Michael Z. Berger, who customised what is understood to be three watches to have the dial read PABLO PICASSO. Luckily for Pablo, his name is 12 perfect characters long, nicely forming the hour markers of the watch around the dial. Of the three watches that are known, two are owned by the Picasso Foundation, making this sale a particularly rare opportunity to own a piece of the artist’s history.

Picasso watch
Image: bonhams.com

Originally believed to have been lost, according to Bonhams the watch was given to a friend of Picasso, the Greek sculptor Lela Kanellopoulou. The historically important, but unusual timepiece has been consigned by one of Kanellopoulou’s relatives.

Picasso watch
Image: artst.org

Jonathan Darracott, Bonhams’ global head of watches is thrilled to be in a position to sell the watch. “Occasionally I have had a chance to hold history and intrigue in my hands in the form of a watch and this has to been one of the most befitting to make a lasting impression — the like of which I will not see again.”

So if you want to add a Picasso watch to your horological collection, while you wait to add a Picasso painting to your bedroom wall, this could be your  opportunity to pounce.

The watch will be sold at Bonhams’ Paris Luxury Watch Sale on May 20. For more details, visit Bonhams’ right here