NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s upcoming sale of Important Watches in New York will be held on 10 December 2015, offering an impressive range of both vintage and modern timepieces for both new and established collectors – and just in time for holiday gifting. Beginning this Saturday, Sotheby's will be exhibitiing more than 300 timepieces on offer in next week’s sale in their York Avenue galleries. Highlights include:

A PREVIOUSLY UNKOWN ‘CONVERTIBLE’ VINTAGE PATEK
Patek Philippe. The Convertible 3448. Estimate $300/500,000
Twenty years after it was made, the present Ref. 3448 was transformed from an important watch into a veritable unicorn in the canon of Patek Philippe. Originally manufactured in a white gold case in 1966, the firm supplied a yellow gold Ref. 3450 case in 1986 at the request of the owner, along with a new Ref. 3448 dial with yellow gold indexes and accompanying hands and crowns. The movement was granted official permission by the firm to float freely between the two cases, essentially creating a ‘convertible’ watch that can be worn in either white or yellow gold. The existence of such a watch in the firm’s illustrious history has until now been unheard of in public.

PROPERTY OF A DISTINGUISHED COLLECTOR
The December auction is anchored by a diverse private collection of timepieces assembled in second half of the 20th century, featuring triumphs of mechanical design as well as aesthetic masterworks of enameling and goldsmithing. Highlights from the collection include automatons with exceptional enamel work from the 18th century, vintage pieces made for the Turkish, Persian and Chinese export markets, high-quality repeaters from the 20th century, two masterpieces by Patek Philippe, and a Breguet of great importance:

Patek Philippe
A Fine and Rare Yellow Gold Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Wristwatch with Moon Phases and Bracelet. Ref. 1518, made in 1949. Estimate $250/350,000
The Ref. 1518 was the first perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch ever produced in series by Patek Philippe. From 1941 to 1954, a total of 281 Ref. 1518 wristwatches were made – an incredibly small production run by today’s standards, with an average of just 20 watches per year.

Patek Philippe
An Important and Rare Yellow Gold Perpetual Calendar Minute Repeating Split Seconds Chronograph Open-Faced Watch with Moon Phases and Register. Ref. 767/3, Made in 1904, Sold in 1965. Estimate $250/350,000
In the 1960s, Patek Philippe sold a celebrated but small group of what would later be referred to as the fabled ‘Modern’ pocket watches – a number of complicated movements from the early 20th century were discovered in the firm’s vaults, and housed in radically new and different cases. The present Ref. 767 is one of only seven known examples of this reference, and the only known Ref. 767/3.

Breguet
An Important Gold Split Seconds Stop Watch. No 3168, Sold in 1822. Estimate $150/250,000
Abraham Louis Breguet (1747-1823) is credited with countless horological inventions, and is considered one of the most influential makers in the field. The present example is one of four split-second stop watches ever made by Breguet, illustrating his experiments with different techniques to record elapsed time with chronographs.

ART DECO DESK TIMEPIECES
Vacheron Constantin / Verger Frères / Vladimir Makovsky. The Mythical Dragon. Made in 1926. Estimate $150/250,000
The present desk timepiece leads a number of stunning Art Deco clocks on offer in the December auction. Beautifully encapsulating the design spirit of the era, the piece draws inspiration from Chinese mythology, and showcases the talents of some of the finest maisons of the era – from the movement by Vacheron Constantin to the Verger Frères case and Makovsky dial, and retailed by Charlton & Co.

21ST-CENTURY COMPLICATED WRISTWATCHES
Jaeger-LeCoultre
A Limited Edition and Important White Gold Minute Repeating Wristwatch with Flying Tourbillon, Sky Chart, Month and 24 Hour Indication. Ref. 186.3.46.S, circa 2010. Estimate $120/180,000
The impressive selection of modern complicated wristwatches offers important examples by famed makers including Audemars Piguet, F.P. Journe, IWC, Vacheron Constantin, A. Lange & Söhne, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Panerai. The Master Grande Tradition Grande Complication by Jaeger-LeCoultre combines incredible artistry and haute horology – all visible on the dial. The watch combines a sky chart, minute repeater and tourbillon fixed to a rotating dial, thus creating a complication that appears to orbit the axis of the watch.

VINTAGE SPORT-MODEL ROLEXES
Rolex.
A Fine and Very Rare Yellow Gold Chronograph Wristwatch with Registers and Tachometer. Re. 6241 ‘Paul Newman’ Cosmograph Daytona, circa 1968. Estimate $80/120,000
The present Ref. 6241 leads a number of vintage sport models by Rolex on offer. Made for the American market, the 14k gold version of the watch – featuring the iconic Paul Newman dial – could be considered one of the rarest editions of vintage Daytonas made, likely only produced in the hundreds of examples from 1966–69.

WATCHES UNDER $10,000 FOR HOLIDAY GIFTING
From affordable modern watches to vintage timepieces that seamlessly blend the boundaries between everyday wear and collection status, the December auction offers hundreds of pieces under $10,000 – just in time for holiday gifting.