The Unicorns, White Whales, And Rare Birds From The Upcoming Geneva Watch Auctions

Over the course of just three days in May, the world’s most dedicated watch enthusiasts and connected collectors will be in Geneva to bid on all kinds of unicorns, white whales, and rare birds. Those who can't be there in person will live stream the action like those watching a pay-per-view fight, Royal Wedding, or Coachella set.
 

During this time, the major auction houses (Antiquorum, Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips) will sell hundreds of watches and will (hopefully) rake in millions of dollars.
 

For the last few years, selling timepieces on the secondary market has become a big game hunt, and as a result, more and more of the lots feature modern pieces. And the hype was around celebrity-owned watches. But this season, the most sought after lots are pure vintage. Here is a house-by-house list of the highlights:

Phillips’s Geneva Watch Auction: Nine, which takes place May 11 and 12, at La Réserve, is offering up a truly elusive Vacheron Constantin minute repeater with a retrograde calendar that, until recently, only existed in a single black-and-white photograph.

Not only is this a fantastic complication, the watch features fine deco-inspired details such as a tonneau case and Breguet hands. The signature of luxury retailers Brooking Madrid on the dial plus a retrograde calendar and day-of-the-week indicator. Couple with the fact it has a fascinating provenance as well.
 

According to a statement from Aurel Bacs of Bacs & Russo and Alex Ghotbi, Phillips’ Head of Sales in Geneva, “There was, in the 1930s, no other calendar wristwatch with retrograde date and minute repeater, so it was a revolutionary watch, made to measure for a very important patron.”

That customer was Madrid-born businessman, Francisco Martinez Llano, aka “Don Pancho.” Llano commissioned the piece from Vacheron in late 1935, but the watch was not delivered until 1940. Llano died in 1947, and the watch vanished. It was recently rediscovered in the Llano family vault, well worn but unpolished.
 

Christie’s Luxury Week returns to the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva on May 13th. The highlight of this year’s catalog is a super rare ‘The Pink Stelline’ Rolex ref. 6062.

What makes it so rare? Rediscovered by the original owner's family in 2015, this unique timepiece is one of the best preserved and most exceptional 6062s to come up for auction ever.
 

Made between 1950 and 1953, this model has an interesting history. At the time, Rolex ordered around 180 pink gold ref. 6062 cases, the backs marked at the time 6063. But according to historians, it seems that only 50 examples were eventually used and sold of which today some 20 examples have been rediscovered.

And it's believed that this particular timepiece is one of less than ten versions with the iconic luminous Star Dial. The Rolex reference 6062 triple calendar moon phase with “Star Dial” (“Stelline” is Italian for “little star”) is also one of the most instantly recognizable vintage Rolexes which makes it even more desirable.
 

The dial itself was most likely produced by Beyeler and delivered and mounted by Stern Frères. What makes this face exquisite is its "grainé" silvered finish, blue date scale and pink gold stars with separate luminous dots next to the stars. Stern Frères supplied the moon phase of blue champlevé enamel on a gold plate.

When the watch came to light in 2015, the owners took it to Rolex Geneva for an authenticity check. It was revealed that at some point since its manufacture, large luminous dots had been applied to the dial and two extra lumes were added next to the quarter indexes.
 

The owner chose to have those large and inappropriate lumes professionally removed, and original period radium lume reapplied. This perfectly applied lume enhances the overall appearance of the exceptionally well-preserved dial with its original grainé base, the printing in absolutely unrestored and untouched condition.

What else? The "SWISS" designation below 6 o'clock shows three different fonts for each "S," a system, a style believed impossible to fake. The calendar is in French, its printing, as well as that of the rest of the dial, is still very well preserved.

This particular Pink Stelline has a flawless provenance. Rolex used an illustration of an identical watch with "Type 453" dial in their contemporary advertisements for the reference 6062. For historical context, it's also refreshing to see the original leather strap (not a metal bracelet)in this advertisement.