RECOMMENDED READING: Why did auctioneer Aurel Bacs buy a modern quartz watch?
Nick KenyonIf you haven’t heard of Aurel Bacs, that is something that needs to change. While the word influencer has been irreparably ruined by people who use Instagram at the beach, it is one of the most fitting words to describe his impact on the global vintage watch market. The founder of the watch department at Phillips, he still runs the business with his wife Livia Russo under the name Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo, responsible for a string of records that places him in a league of his own at the rostrum.
As you might expect, given he spends the majority of his waking hours (and probably some of those while sleeping) thinking about vintage watches, he is incredibly passionate about the subject matter, as well as collecting for himself. He tells the story of being 16 years old when he first fell in love with a Patek Philippe, convincing his parents to loan him the money to buy it, which they agreed to if the watch stayed in a safe till the debt was cleared. I don’t know about you, but at 16 I had a few other things on my mind besides old Swiss wristwatches, but it just goes to show how deep Aurel’s passion goes.
This all gives cause to surprise at the news he has recently purchased not only a quartz watch, but a modern quartz watch, which he notes is “a battery-driven watch, probably the first I’ve owned in the past 35 years”. Of course, this isn’t just any modern quartz watch, but an F. P. Journe Élégante 48mm Titalyt, a watch that is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful battery-driven watches ever made.
Read all about why Aurel Bacs decided to buy the watch right here at the Philipps site.