Breaking News: Only Watch 2011 Auction Results — Antiquorum Lures Top Buyers; Patek Philippe Goes for Nearly $2 million

Patek Phillipe Today in the Principality of Monaco, the world-famous charity watch auction ONLY WATCH was held under the High Patronage of HSH Prince Albert II. Forty unique timepieces donated by top brands were sold by Antiquorum, the entire proceeds of which are donated to support research on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

A few watches fetching top dollars:

Patek Philippe’s 3939HA Minute Repeater Tourbillon in steel (Caliber R TO 27 PS movement is 6.58 mm thick with 28 jewels, 336 parts and a 48 hour power reserve piece unique) went for an amazing 1.4 million Euro, or nearly $2 million US ($1,909,704 to be exact) –answering to the demand of true collectors who recognize the significance of this combination of complexity and rarity built in a steel piece from this brand.

Richard Mille took second billing with the RM027 Tourbillon DeWittRafael Nadal, which was worn by Nadal when he won the 2011 Monte Carlo championships for the 7th consecutive year. The watch sold for 510 Euro, or approximately $688,630.  It is a light, tonneau shaped and curved, prototype made of carbon, titanium and Lital with visible one-minute tourbillon regulator.

DeWitt was the third best-selling lot at 410 Euro, or $553,605 for its  “Concept Watch No. 3 – X-Watch.” It is a reversible watch made of titanium and steel, with double bi-retrograde hours and minutes, visible one-minute tourbillon Richard Mille and power reserve on the front side, chronograph on the reverse, registers, power-reserve indication and a DeWitt titanium and black PVD triple folding clasp.

A few of our favorites:

MB&F (lot 28) skid fir 170 Euro or about $229,500 – among the top six best sellers of the show. Kudos to them.

Vacheron Constantin The Vacheron Constantin Metiers d’ Art Doves (lot 37) went for 90,000 Euro, or $121,621 US

The Vulcain Cricket (lot 39), a favorite of ours thanks to its American Heritage, garnered a respectable 11,500 Euro, or approximately $15,500 US.

Check out our post a few weeks ago to see the video of all 40 timepieces. https://www.atimelyperspective.com/2011/9/3/video-antiquorum-unveils-the-40-only-watch-2011-auction-lots

Time Capsules: Perrelet Watches Releases Turbine Poker

Reeling, dealing and wheeling take on all new meaning in this newest Perrelet watch—the Turbine Poker. Those of you familiar with Perrelet—inventor of the automatic watch back a couple of centuries ago – are familiar with the brand’s famed double rotor watch.  The Double Rotor is a design the brand has used – offering two rotors on the timepiece – to exemplify its legendary status as the inventor of the automatic.

Most recently, Perrelet developed the Turbine watch, a watch that features cut-outs in the top-level dial and that rotates much like a turbine — allowing for visibility of the lower dial in a motion format that is propelled by the movements of the wrist. Heretofore this ingenious design featured different colored dials, but now, the brand releases its incredible Turbine Poker watch, with cards spread around the dial beneath the 12-blade turbine wheel top dial. Because the dial rotates constantly, one never knows the final deal – it is all a guessing game. Until the wheels stop.  The watch is created in a 44mm DLC steel case that is water resistant to 5ATM. It is accented with a black rubber strap, with three dial options each offering a different card combination in winning formats.  Minimum bet (retail price): $6,000.

 

Trend Report: High-Tech Materials in Watchmaking — Inside and Out

The watch industry has come a long way from its stainless steel and 18-karat gold days of 35 years ago.  Today, high-tech materials reign as movement parts inside the watch and as case and bracelets on the outside. Rado was the first real pioneer in the world of ceramics more than 30 years ago and not too long afterward, Hublot unveiled the first luxury watch with rubber strap. Next up, as the 20th century came to a close, titanium forged to the forefront.
 Now, the watch industry is filled with space-age materials that are cutting-edge alloys – often borrowed from the aeronautic or auto racing world, and some are even self-developed in house.  These new non-corrosive, light-weight materials (such as rubber- or titanium-infused alloys, liquid metals, forged carbon, etc.) are often hypo-allergenic alloys with long life spans. Additionally, new methods of coating materials – such as PVD (physical vapor deposition), DLC (diamond like carbon), give more rugged wear and tear ability.  Indeed, throughout the past decade-plus, visionary watch brands have propelled a 500-year-old craft to a new way of thinking.
 Leaders in the field include Hublot, which introduced a Cathedral Minute Repeater Tourbillon Chronograph in carbon fiber case; Richard Mille, who works long hours in Research and development to create durable, light-weight alloys for his pieces. Such alloys include carbon fiber, aluminum and magnesium blends – offering longevity, comfort and performance. Harry Winston has been utilizing its own trademarked alloy called Zalium™ for years, and Zenith recently released the El Primero Stratus Flyback in an alloy of aluminum with zinc, magnesium, copper, zirconium, titanium, silicium and iron called Alchron. Panerai has developed an aluminum and ceramic alloy and even Chanel has its own titanium and ceramic alloy.
Watch movements also have their own high-tech materials in the very high-end realm, as the finest watch brands strive to bring their calibers to new heights.  Some companies, such as Ulysse Nardin and Patek Philippe have spent well over a decade investigating materials and utilizing such elements as silicium and ceramic ball bearings in their watches.  Certain new materials offer reduced friction, the elimination of lubrication, and longer times between servicing of watches. This is a complex category, and one which Atimelyperspective will bring more insight to soon.
 

Time Capsules: Product – Bell & Ross Unveils Vintage WW1 Series

Vintage sport watches are all the rage this year, especially pilot watches. As such, it is no surprise that Bell & Ross – a master at vintage pilot watch designs – recently released an all-new collection that highlights the past in updated style. This Bell & Ross Vintage WW1 (Wrist Watch 1) series pays tribute to the first wristwatches worn by pilots in the early 1920s, thanks to its large 45mm case diameter, its wire-type lugs and  its bold yet clean dial appeal.  There are several models in the new WW1 collection, including a WW1 Grand Date, WW1 Reserve de Marche, WW1 Military, WW1 Heritage, and a WW1 Pocket Watch. Each is fitted with a mechanical automatic movement, features an anti-reflective domed sapphire crystal, and is water resistant to 50 meters.   The WW1-97 Reserve de Marche offers hours, minutes and seconds   with power reserve indicator. The galvanic black dial is accented with Arabic numerals at 3:00, 9:00 and 12:00, and stick indices. All, as well as the hands, are covered in a photo-luminescent coating for easy night readability. This watch retails for an amazing $4,500. There is also a WW1-92 Heritage watch with a striking blasted steel case with gray finish, a matt black dial with sand-colored numbers and a tan leather strap designed to take on an aged patina with time. The dial of this watch (and the dial of the WW1 Military version) features an inner hour counter and an oversized outer minute counter for easy reading of the minutes. It retails for $3,700. The collection should be in stores soon and is well worth a trip to see and touch, as the watches are stunning in their authenticity and design heritage.

Time Capsulse: Product — Ralph Lauren Sporting World Time on the Wrist

….Or in the hand in this case. Thanks to Ralph Lauren Watch and Jewelry Co., we recently took an up-close and personal look at the Sporting World Time watch, and it is a beauty. The 18-karat rose gold  world timer looks and feels like a million bucks—but, of course, it retails for just  $26,000 in rose gold with a black alligator strap (it is also available in white gold).  This beauty houses the RL939 automatic movement, made by Jaeger-LeCoultre for Ralph Lauren. The outstanding 305-part, 34-jewel movement is beautifully appointed with a vertical Cotes de Genève and perlage decoration and offers 40 hours of power reserve. The watch displays the dual time zone complication, complete with second time zone subdial with am/pm indicator, and rotating city disk, as well as the date indication and power reserve indicator for a harmonious dial appeal. It is 44.8mm in diameter and offers a sapphire crystal caseback for viewing of the movement. This is a timepiece the sophisticated watch lover won’t want to miss out on.

Video: The Art of Creating Watch Hands

Every moment when one glances at the watch, it is the hands that are really indicating the time. The few delicate legends that are most often custom made and infinitely created according to bespoke workmanship have such extreme importance on a watch dial, and yet are not often given enough attention by wearers or collectors. The making of these pieces is a time-consuming tedious craft, don on such tiny scale that only tweezers are used—that and extremely sharp eyes. Here, thanks to  www.AWJOnlineTV.com, and www.hautehorlogerie.org, a rare look at the art of creating watch hands can be seen in this unusual behind-the-scenes video.

 

A Timely Event: Girard-Perregaux Celebrates 220 Years with Traveling Exhibition

The famed haute horlogerie manufacture Girard-Perregaux extended an invitation to all ATimelyperspective readers to join the brand as it celebrates its 220th anniversary in November at its New York City Boutique.  This venerable brand, founded in 1791 and about which we at Atimelyperspective have long been very close to over the past quarter of a century, has established a worldwide traveling exhibition of exceptional timepieces from its elaborate Swiss museum collection. In fact, it is the largest series of Girard-Perregaux timepieces, both historic and rare contemporary watches, ever to be seen outside of Switzerland.

Designed to give visitors a real inside look at the spirit and values of the brand, the display, “A tale of inspiration – Unveiling 220 years of watchmaking Art” – intertwines timepieces, world history, events, public figures and politics. A highlight of the show is the La Esmerald, a Constant Girard-Perregaux Tourbillon with three gold Bridges that won a gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1889. Along with the timepieces, several of the brand’s master watchmakers and craftsmen will be demonstrating their crafts.  The exhibit will travel first to the Far East and then will be in New York at the Boutique (701 Madison Ave) from November 18 to the 26th.

Time Capsules: News – Bulova Accutron Unveils Sir Richard Branson LE Watch

It isn’t everyday that a rich American-historied brand such as Bulova forms a relationship with a global innovator and entrepreneur such as Sir Richard  Branson, founder of the Virgin Group – but Bulova Accutron has done just that. What’s more, during this week’s New York Fashion week, Branson – the brand’s official ambassador – assisted in the debut of the new Sir Richard Branson Limited Edition prototype watch.

The Swiss-made Bulova Accutron watch is created as a result of the brand’s partnership with Branson. Just 500 will be made, each with his signature etched on the caseback. The COSC-certified movement  is a self-widning mechanical , 21-jewel GMT caliber. The watch is crafted in titanium  and offers a saphire caseback to view the movement.  The stylized dial is offered in black with a globe deisng offerin latitud and longitude lines . The GMT hand is in red and the perimeter fo the dial includes the names of the world’s 24 main city destiinations that corrspond ot he 24 key time zoens. It retails for $3,500.  Bulova will donate a portion of the proceeds from the sales of the Bulova Accutron Sir Richard Branson Limited Edition watch to Virgin Unite non-profit organization. While the watch is amazingly alluring … don’t dash out to the stores yet. It won’t be available until fall, 2012.

A Timely Event: Preview of the Exceptional Only Watch Charity Auction in New York Today

This year, on September 23 in Monaco, the well-known Only Watch 2011 Charity Auction will take place. This highly esteemed event, which Atimelyperspective   attended in 2009, has been held every other year since 2005 concurrent with the Monaco Yacht Show. This is the venue where luxury watchmaking and medical research come together, and is held for charity, benefitting research on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.  The auction is held under the high patronage of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco and jointly organized with Antiquorum Auctioneers and Monaco Yacht Show, as well as the Monaco Yacht Show. This year, the event is held at the Hotel Hermitage, Square Beaumarchais More than 40 unique timepieces put up for bid (which can be seen via the catalog by clicking here Only Watch) – are created and donated by some of the most prestigious watch manufactures. These timepieces are currently in the process of completing a world tour of previews for interested buyers.

Today, that tour comes to New York City. Presented at Antiquorum Auctioneers on Madison Avenue by Antiquorum and the Consulate General of Monaco, the exclusive exhibit can be previewed beginning at 10 am for one day only. Contact Antiquorum for details at 212-750-1103.  From here the exhibit moves to Milan, then Geneva and finally Monaco. For a closer look at some of the stunning watches up for grabs – view the video shown here last Saturday, September 3.  https://www.atimelyperspective.com/2011/9/3/video-antiquorum-unveils-the-40-only-watch-2011-auction-lots

Commentary: Time in Memory

Today, September 11, marks the 10 year anniversary of the terrorist attach and the tragic loss of life in what we as an American nation have come to call 9/11. That fateful day, however, was also one of heroic actions. It — and the ensuing days – marked a time when our country – young and old, rich and poor, working man and unemployed, all skin colors – came together. Today, in honor of those great people who lost their lives, who died trying to save others, to their families, and in honor of all Americans and other nations that came to task, Atimelyperspective pays tribute with a time for silence and prayer. We will never forget.