NEW YORK, NY.- Robust bidding drove this week’s sale of Important Watches to a $7.1 million total, exceeding the auction’s high estimate of $6.9 million and with a very strong 90% of lots sold. Modern and vintage wristwatches and pocket watches by celebrated houses – particularly Rolex, Patek Philippe and Cartier – achieved notable prices throughout the day.

OUTSTANDING GROUP OF SIX VINTAGE ROLEX ‘DAYTONA’ WRISTWATCHES FETCH $1.1 MILLION
The sale offered a stunning selection of six vintage ‘Daytona’ by Rolex, which totaled $1.1 million. The group featured four ‘Paul Newman’ models, distinguished by its art-deco style font and hash marks on the dial. The coveted group was led by a Fine and Rare Yellow Gold Chronograph Wristwatch, Ref 6241, circa 1967, which quickly surpassed expectations to achieve $275,000 (estimate $150/250,000). At least five bidders competed for a Fine and Very Rare Yellow Gold Chronograph Wristwatch with Registers and Tachometer, Ref 6241, driving the final price to $175,000 – over four times its high estimate.

MODERN AND VINTAGE PATEK PHILIPPE POCKET WATCHES & WRISTWATCHES
The sale featured two extraordinary pocket watches by Patek Philippe that bookended the firm’s output of the 20th century. A Unique and Extraordinary Massive Open-Faced Grande and Petite Sonnerie Minute Repeating Perpetual Calendar Split Second Chronograph Clock Watch led the way with a final price of $468,500 (estimate $300/500,000). A tribute to the Henry Graves, Jr. Supercomplication, sold by Sotheby’s in 1999 and again in 2014, this exceptional Ref 942/2, also known as the Grand Complication, required five years of craftsmanship to combine all twelve complications into one case. A Important and Rare Yellow Gold Perpetual Calendar Minute Repeating Split Seconds Chronograph Open-Faced Watch Ref 767/3 made in 1904, with its bold case lines and stepped bezels, sold for $243,750 (estimate $180/280,000).

Notable wristwatches by Patek Philippe found success this afternoon. A Very Fine and Important Yellow Gold Automatic Perpetual Calendar Wristwatch, Ref 3448, was chased by at least three telephone bidders. Achieving $237,500, this wonderfully preserved wristwatch, coming to auction from the family of the original owners, sold for two times the pre-sale high estimate of $120,000.

CARTIER MYSTERY CLOCK RESULTS IN TOP PRICE OF THE WEEK
The top lot of today’s sale – and of timepieces offered across the auction houses this week – was a captivating timepiece by Cartier. Known as a Mystery Clock, this Exceptional and Rare Platinum, Yellow Gold, Rock Crystal, Onyx, Mother-of-Pearl and Diamond-Set Clock charmed bidders with its combination of beautiful details and impressive technological design. Estimated at $300/500,000, this desk timepiece from 1929, designed by Maurice Couet, fetched $504,500.

THE CORSAIR WATCH
Pocket watches, not just those by Patek Philippe, attracted bidding throughout the sale. ‘The Corsair Watch’, A Fine and Important Yellow Gold Open Faced Minute Repeating Split Seconds Chronograph Watch by Charles Frodsham, presented by JP Morgan to J Frederic Tams in 1891 as a souvenir for building his yacht Corsair, sold for $87,500, far above its estimate of $40/60,000.

UPCOMING SALE:
The Celebration of the English Watch: Part III
Auction in London 15 December 2016
Following the success of the first two parts of “Celebration of the English Watch” which set a series of records for a number of antique watches and watchmakers, the most important private collection of English watches returns to Sotheby’s London on 15 December with a sale celebrating the genius of Thomas Tompion (1639-1713), the father of English watch- and clockmaking. The sale is led by an exceptional group of watches by Thomas Tompion and other leading makers who were active in the “Golden Age” of English Horology (John Knibb, Henry Jones, Daniel Quare and George Graham). The 61 lots on offer also brilliantly trace the evolution of watchmaking, from the early 17th to the early 20th centuries.