Take it Daily..!

The fall auction season is already upon us. Or, I guess you could say, it’s been here since the strong showing by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong—though that technically ended right before the official start of fall. The Cartier Cheich in white gold (which traded hands among dealers and collectors for a few years at far less than that) sold for $3.4 million, setting a record as the most expensive Cartier and most expensive quartz watch ever sold. Weeks later, if you asked me what this means for the market, I’d probably stare at you blankly. Ben would probably do the same, as he’s said on the site that it’s just hard to make sense of prices both at retail and at auction anymore. Let’s chat about that all first.

What The Heck Is Going On With The Market?

As we head into the bulk of the auctions, I currently feel far less confident telling you where prices will land. I think most prognosticators—myself included—would say that we have to be nearing the height of the bubble for F.P. Journe and A. Lange & Söhne. But then again, over breakfast the other day, a friend asked if I knew someone who’d want a very historically important watch from a more traditional brand that went underpriced nearly 10 years ago and now was available for double that—into the seven figures. Some things (like that very vague story, probably) make sense; some can leave you scratching your head.

There was an interesting debate, of sorts, in newsletters and blogs between Langepedia and our friend and dealer Alfredo Paramico (who has become a recent, active acolyte of Lange after a stint rightfully espousing the virtue of complicated neo-vintage Blancpain, Breguet, Genta, and Ebel) over whether the Lange market is born out of something tangible, with true data for the rarity of certain watches, or if people have been swept up by marketing, hype, and alleged curious bidding at auction to “defend” the market many dealers are deeply invested in. When a Tourbillon Pour le Mérite now lists for over $1 million (though IT isn’t moving that quickly, to be fair) and was nearly unsellable at $400,000 just two years ago, things certainly raise eyebrows. Same for Wellendorf bracelets, which were nearly impossible to source and now are plentiful for a few hundred thousand dollars.

The same could be said for the superlatives given to Journe pieces. A “possibly first” pre-Souscription Resonance turned out not to be such—or at least not the first delivered, but maybe the first made? Semantics are confusing—and Journe was quick to correct. A few “remarkable” mother-of-pearl watches at Sotheby’s didn’t sell for quite the number that I expected, but then I was shown better pictures of the dials that made it clear that the MOP had actually cracked, with one dealer telling me whoever got it overpaid (in their opinion). So with all this, caveat emptor. You should only pay what a watch feels like it’s worth to you, not what you think the market has convinced itself of in the moment. If the bag you’re left holding is a watch you love, then that’s great. If it’s an “investment” watching “stonks” go to the moon, then maybe this isn’t the time to be buying. Or maybe I’m wrong. To quote another of my favorite memes, “I want to get off Mr. Bones’ Wild Ride.” But that said, we’ve got some cool things coming out that are certainly worth buying if they move you.

Marteau & Co. Is Back With “The Encore,” Open for Bidding Oct. 8 to 15

There are two approaches to auctions that seem to be popular today: drown people with a ton of lots or craft a more traditional set of about 100-150 pieces where some stand out and some fill the gaps. The latter is easier for me to cover, because the good watches stand out in relief. Marteau is adding a wrinkle because, yet again, they’ve done a tightly curated set of around 40 watches where nearly every lot could get a standalone story. It makes it hard for me to give things shout-outs, so take a look at their catalog for yourself after you read the preview. For now, this is what caught my eye.

Of course, the elephant in the room—the five of them—is the inclusion of a full steel set of F.P. Journe watches, plus the box, all parted into different lots. This is the first time set number 37 has come to auction, and timing couldn’t be better if the market is trending upward. For those not aware, this is a set of 38mm versions of Journe’s Tourbillon, Resonance, Octa Calendrier, Reserve de Marche, and Chronometre Souverain, all in steel with gold dials. Last year, a full set sold for around $3 million, if memory serves, and a Resonance alone was offered privately for $650,000, both before the uptick in the market.

Sylvain Pinaud is picking up steam lately, with his recent tourbillon drawing a lot of attention and selling out quickly, so of course my attention was drawn to his Piece Unique Origine in rose gold, which is really stunning and carries a CHF 80,000 to 160,000 estimate. Another one that caught my eye is Yosuke Sekiguchi’s unique Primevere. The Japanese-born, Swiss-based watchmaker has been covered on Hodinkee before and might be another person to pay close attention to as interest funnels from more prominent names to other talented watchmakers that haven’t quite “popped” in the same way.

Finally, I’m interested to see how Ludovic Ballouard’s Half Time and Marco Lang’s Zweigesicht-1 do at auction. Ballouard is a well-known name for indie collectors, but you normally see his Upside Down watch come up for sale, so the Half Time could do quite well. Meanwhile, not as many people probably know Lang’s standalone brand as well as they know the one he founded in 2001 and left in 2019 (Lang & Heyne). This is the first time his Zweigesicht-1 has come up for auction, and a CHF 200,000 to 400,000 estimate for any watch is eye-catching, but so is the work. Sometimes an auction like this can help a watchmaker gain some momentum.

There are a number of more affordable watches on offer as well, though some I think might go quite high compared to the estimates, like the Reuben Schoots and Ondrej Berkus, both of whom are self-taught watchmakers working in two very distinct styles. The Habring2 Five Minute Repeater is particularly interesting to me, since its skeletonized dial isn’t like what I normally imagine from Habring2, while the J.N. Shapiro also should sell far beyond the CHF 16,000 high estimate. There are others, like Michiel Holthinrich’s early Ornament, and the two options from Kurono Tokyo round out the affordable offerings. I could go on and on; it’s a very diverse auction. But if you want more (and more Jay-Z-themed titles), Marteau is doing another auction in October called “The Blue Print,” where they’re auctioning off a unique Philippe Dufour Simplicity with an aventurine dial, previously offered for charity.

For more on the Marteau & Co. auction, from Oct. 8 to 15, visit their website.

Antiquorum is Back in the New York Groove

It’s been over a decade since the OG watch-only auction house held a live auction in New York, and while Geneva will still be the main show for all watch auctions for the foreseeable future, there’s an October 18 sale being held at the Ned Nomad starting at 11 am EDT. I browsed through the 157 lots pretty quickly compared to the 600+ you normally get at an Antiquorum sale in Geneva these days. While I haven’t seen the watches in person, here’s a quick take.

I found it interesting that they started the sale with books and ephemera, rather than a few really eye-catching watches. Personally, I think you’d want to start a comeback with a bang, but I’ve never lotted an auction (as they call it), so who am I to say? Once you get past those, however, you get right into a Comex Submariner and a Tiffany-signed 14k yellow gold Rolex ref. 6241 Daytona. A 14k case and a U.S. market retailer make sense together; I just want to really closely look at anything double-signed these days. Not saying there’s anything glaringly wrong with it, but maybe I’ve gotten a bit gun-shy about something being too perfect.

Of course, the Patek ref. 96 is the new hot thing (thanks, Mike Nouveau) over the past few years, and so Antiquorum comes to Mike’s hometown with a possibly unique example. If it looks otherwise pretty standard, you’d be excused for thinking that, as it’s not as immediately attention-grabbing as a steel long-signature or black dial, but according to Antiquorum and a study from Eric Tortella, the characteristics are from an early production run (a first-year 1932 example, at that), but there’s a bit of an asterisk about the archive not showing the actual dial configuration. I had a long talk in Milan with the head of the archives at Patek, and it’s still not clear to me when unique watches will be noted and when they won’t be, so again, I think this is going to be up to the buyer’s personal gut instincts.

After more ephemera, clocks, and other assorted modern items, there are two special-order Cartier Crash watches up for grabs that should get some pretty strong activity. The one with the grey fume dial is particularly unusual, but both carry a $400,000 to $600,000 estimate that should prove out based on the momentum of Cartier lately. A few lots later and there’s a Bueche-Girod which has some striking resemblance to a Cartier Maxi Oval. These used to be cheap, and the story behind them has been told to me in various ways—maybe a producer for Cartier NYC, maybe just someone “inspired” by Cartier—but now it carries a $15,000 to $30,000 estimate. Much cheaper than a Maxi Oval, still, but boy, I miss the old days.

Modern Rolex, modern Rolex, modern Rolex, some Harry Winston, Hublot, IWC, Franck Muller, Roger Dubuis, and we’re in the thick of the modern stuff with a bit more flash. There’s a Patek ref. 5102 Celestial, which a retailer recently told me gets overlooked as no one actually uses the Celestial function, but I still think they’re cool. I hate to be snarky—I make a ton of mistakes— but I got a chuckle out of seeing this Streamliner Tourbillon listed as a “Henri Moser,” not H. Moser & Cie, the brand’s actual name, not Henrich Moser, the original owner, but a French equivalent, I guess. Still, a really cool rainbow-set watch that feels very appropriate for someone in Miami, perhaps.

There are a few Journes near the end, including a Vagabondage II that starts at $500,000 and a Black Label (listed as Back Series) Tourbillon Vertical starting at $800,000, but the watch that really made me sit up in my ergonomic and cushy armchair was this amazing ref. 30020 Vacheron Les Complications. Back in 1994, brands were still making well-balanced, highly complicated watches, and with only 37mm and a platinum case, you get a perpetual calendar, minute repeater, and beautiful teardrop lugs. Yes, it’ll cost you $200,000 to $400,000, but two years ago, you’d pay over six times the low estimate for the same watch in white gold if it said Patek Philippe on the dial. This is the kind of stuff where Antiquorum really shines.

For more on the Antiquorum auction, visit their website.