In the room for the Phillips Game Changers Auction

Brendan Cunningham

A premier watch auction is an inspiring event. Last week, I joined the bidders at Phillips auction house on Park Avenue in New York. As we progressed through the 74 lots on offer, I was struck by the truly global nature of the vintage watch market. The auctioneer and impresario Aurel Bacs flawlessly switched between English, Italian and French while at one point saying to the phone bank, “I wish I could understand what you’re saying!”, as bidders from around the globe gabbled with house specialists. Earlier, Mr Bacs noted that the highest online bid in any watch auction had just arrived, north of $1 million, from someone on some continent somewhere. The Phillips Game Changers auction was a moment of many such firsts.

It was the first time at a US auction that more than five timepieces sold for more than $1 million. We saw the highest valuations for a Rolex GMT-Master, Rolex Presidential, and two Patek perpetual calendar chronographs. And it is highly commendable that Phillips was so successful given the rumblings of global economic uncertainty which have slowly become louder. Over the past three quarters the major world economies have underperformed — a very different context from 2017 when Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona set a new world record north of $17 million (AUD 24.6 million, also delivered to market by Phillips).

Visiting the lots during the preview I kept thinking to myself, “these timepieces are in incredible condition; this auction house has impeccable curation”. Yet, I also thought, “perhaps the instability in Hong Kong, the trade wars, have started to cast a shadow on things” when a 1924 Omega chronograph (ref. KOT741AL) achieved only its estimated value after including the buyer’s commission. Ahead of the auction, CNBC tweeted speculation that one of the lots, golf legend Jack Nicklaus’ Rolex Presidential, “will be more expensive than Paul Newman’s Rolex”. It didn’t get there, hammering at $1.22 million (AUD 1.77 million). To be fair, Phillips never claimed we’d see a new record (there were no catalogue published estimates for two premier lots, perhaps for reasons explored by Tony Traina at Rescapement). The vintage watch market is still hot, but perhaps just not in the “surface-of-the-sun” sense that we saw during the Only Watch auction.

To wit, here are some of the most impressive and noteworthy lots, along with some notes and details regarding how they fared (prices include the buyer’s commission).

Urwerk AMC – Atomic Master Clock – $2.9 million (AUD 4.2 million)

The story of Urwerk’s AMC begins in 1795 when Breguet introduced the “Sympathique” clock-watch combination. The premise behind this design is that a standalone master clock winds and sets the time on a pocket watch, or wristwatch, when it is placed in a “cradle”. Urwerk took a giant leap forward by designing a briefcase-like master clock powered by an atomic timer. This “Atomolith” (weighing more than 77 pounds) can wind and set the time on the accompanying wristwatch, but it can also regulate the wristwatch, called the AMC/mobile unit, in order to improve accuracy when it is worn. The AMC/mobile unit has a four-day power reserve and an “oil change” indicator which, after four years, signals it is time for servicing. The buyer did get a whole lot of horological innovation with this lot.

Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph with Moonphase (ref. 1518) – $2.3 million (AUD 3.33 million)

Prior to the emergence of this example there were only 12 known “pink-on-pink” versions of this reference, so named because they are rendered in pink gold and feature a pink face. Given that this particular example was new to market and sourced from the original owner, this lot created a lot of excitement, and the final price is a realisation of that exuberance.

Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph with Moonphase (ref. 2499) – $2.024 million (AUD 2.93 million)

This reference of the Patek Philippe perpetual calendar is distinguished by its larger size (gaining 2.5mm on the earlier reference 1518) and far more decorative lugs. Moreover, this particular example features rounded pushers, which offered greater water resistance than prior designs. It is the only known example to emerge from the Patek factory with a Vichet case (named after the producer) and round pushers.

Rolex GMT-Master (ref. 1675) – $1.952 million (AUD 2.82 million)

This timepiece really does not need an introduction, but I will offer a few notes. The watch in this lot was worn by actor and two-time Academy Award winner Marlon Brando while filming Apocalypse Now. This August marked the 40^th anniversary of the film. The watch was thought lost for a long time but re-emerged recently when Brando’s daughter contacted Phillips. It was customised in two ways by Brando: first, he personally engraved the back “M. Brando.” Second, he removed the bezel (rumour has it with a knife), which gives the timepiece a unique appearance. Collectors perhaps had mixed emotions regarding this customisation, but the lot performed very well at auction, buoyed by the auctioneer’s invocation of a Godfather quote during bidding.

Rolex Day-Date (ref. 1803) – $1.22 million (AUD 1.77 million)

Jack Nicklaus, a legendary professional golfer known as The Golden Bear, was gifted this solid gold timepiece in 1967 by Rolex. The year earlier, Nicklaus had achieved the first of three “grand slam” championships. Also in that year, Nicklaus and his wife rushed their daughter to a hospital due to a breathing emergency. Fortunately, their daughter recovered and from that moment on the Nicklauses dedicated themselves to financially supporting children’s health causes. The proceeds from this lot were donated to the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation.

Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Paul Newman (ref. 6241) – $758,000 (AUD 1.098 million)

This version of the Daytona is referred to as the “John Player Special”. John Player & Sons is a tobacco company out of the UK, and in 1972 they chose a gold and black design for Team Lotus’ Formula One cars. When the Daytona was rendered in gold and paired with a dark bezel and face, it was reminiscent of the Lotus cars, even though the Daytona predated the Formula One team.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Reference 3027 – $62,500 (AUD 90,515)

This timepiece was a one-off custom design commissioned by the Anti-Superstition Society of Chicago. It was presented to Colonel John Glenn, Jr, the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth, during a meeting of the society. All of the hour markers on the watch-face are marked 13 (there was a lost opportunity to adorn the watch with thirteen 13s by employing a date wheel with only 13s, but I digress). The watch also features an engraving on the back that reads: “Colonel John H. Glenn, Jr. Friday April 13, 1962.”