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Sotheby’s ‘Rough Diamonds’ Sale Is All About … Watches
The auction will take place Thursday and is underground, literally.
This 18-karat gold and citrine Jaeger-LeCoultre Ref. 7295 pinky-ring watch dates to 1953 and is one of 24 lots being offered in Sotheby’s upcoming “Rough Diamonds” watch auction. The watches will be on display in Geneva Monday through Wednesday, with the sale slated to take place Thursday.
Geneva—Today in Geneva, two dozen vintage watches that Sotheby’s describes as “avant-garde and overlooked” will go on display ahead of a live auction later this week.
The “Rough Diamonds” sale features bejeweled, unusually shaped, and car-themed timepieces from brands like Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Piaget.
There’s a Corum watch that looks like the grill of a Rolls-Royce from 1980, the circa 1975 Chopard exploding with color (and with a hydrogrossular garnet dial), and the pinky-ring watch from Jaeger-LeCoultre from 1953 that screams mob-wife aesthetic, seen at top of article.
SEE: 5 of the Watches in “Rough Diamonds”
The “Rough Diamonds” sale features bejeweled, unusually shaped, and car-themed timepieces from brands like Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Piaget.
There’s a Corum watch that looks like the grill of a Rolls-Royce from 1980, the circa 1975 Chopard exploding with color (and with a hydrogrossular garnet dial), and the pinky-ring watch from Jaeger-LeCoultre from 1953 that screams mob-wife aesthetic, seen at top of article.
SEE: 5 of the Watches in “Rough Diamonds”
Designed by Jacqueline Dimier, this car-shaped, white gold, diamond and emerald Audemars Piguet is from 1995. It’s estimated to sell for CHF 40,000 to 80,000 ($44,180 to $88,382).
This Patek Philippe ring-watch-necklace set designed by Gilbert Albert circa 1962 is yellow gold set with enamel and pearls. The estimated sale price for the suite is CHF 30,000 to 50,000. ($33,150 to $55,253).
This Corum Rolls-Royce watch, Ref. 55585, is expected to sell for CHF 5,000 to 10,000 ($5,525 to $11,051). Corum sold this watch as a limited-edition timepiece starting in 1990, making just 60 a year.
Piaget made this yellow gold, lapis lazuli, and jade bracelet watch in 1970. It is expected to sell for CHF 20,000 to 30,000 ($22,101 to $33,151).
Audemars Piguet came out with the “Cobra Khanjar” one year before it debuted the “Royal Oak,” with its mesh, serpent-like fully integrated bracelet inspiring the name. This circa 1985 Cobra is estimated to sell for CHF 50,000 to CHF 100,000 ($55,254 to $110,511).
Sotheby’s organized the auction in collaboration with heist-out, a “watch and creative collective” that did something truly original last year—it launched a print magazine.
Commenting on the auction, heist-out co-founders Maxime Couturier and Lorenzo Maillard said, “In an industry where each new release often melds into the next, it is invigorating to pay homage to the trailblazers of yesteryear and affirm that audacity has always been pivotal in shaping watch design.”
The public exhibition for Rough Diamonds will take place Monday through Wednesday from 4 to 8 p.m. CEST underground, literally.
The watches are on display in the wine cellar at La Corne à Vin, 47 Rue de Lausanne, Geneva.
The auction also will take place in the wine cellar, at 6 p.m. CEST on Thursday.
Bidders can participate in person, on the phone, or online via the Sotheby’s website.
To see all the watches in the auction, visit Sothebys.com.
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