Unique Baume & Mercier Capeland Shelby Cobra Watch Placed On Auction

Capeland Shelby Cobra 18k red gold flyback chronograph

Baume & Mercier and legendary race car manufacturer Carroll Shelby International Inc. created the Capeland Shelby Cobra chronograph collection that was released in June. 

Modeled after the Shelby Daytona Cobra, the two limited-edition watches honored the 50th anniversary of the car’s greatest achievement: finishing first in 11 out of 20 races to be crowned 1965 FIA GT champions. It was an unlikely victory as the small American car maker and its team of drivers beat the best-known and most-established car manufacturers in the racing world. 

Baume & Mercier US officials say that it was the company's most successful watch lunch in memory.

Now the two companies are partnering in a release of a one-of-a-kind Capeland Shelby Cobra 18k red gold flyback chronograph that will be auctioned at Antiquorum in New York on December 15. All proceeds will go toward the Carroll Shelby Foundation, which raises funds to help families and children affected by heart disease and provides schooling and education for underprivileged young people in the US. 

A view of the La Joux-Perret mechanical movement from the sapphire crystal caseback

An auction estimate has yet to be set for this new timepiece. Bids may be placed online, over the phone or in person.

The unique version of the Capeland Shelby Cobra is inspired by the same graphic identity codes of the Shelby Cobra race car. Unlike its predecessors, which replicated “Guardsman Blue” racing color with transparent dual racing stripes, the watch up for auction has an off-white dial with sky transparent dual blue racing stripes. There’s also blue accents on the dial and hands, a 44 mm polished/satin-finished 18k red gold case, a black calfskin strap with round-scale blue alligator lining and gray stitching, and an 18k red gold pin buckle. The inscription “Shelby Cobra 1965-2015, Unique Piece” is engraved on the case back, framing a sapphire crystal bearing Carroll Shelby’s signature. 

The Shelby Cobra

The flyback chronograph mechanism is driven by a Swiss-made mechanical self-winding movement from Manufacture La Joux-Perret. The watch comes in an exclusive presentation box that will also house an additional black leather alligator strap with round-scale blue alligator lining and gray stitching.  

The Shelby Cobra stripes

Along with the watch, the winning bidder will receive a “VIP package experience,” which the watch brand says is valued at $10,000. It includes a visit to the Shelby World Headquarters in Las Vegas, an original illustration of the Cobra signed by the Cobra driving legends, a Cobra driving experience, two custom-made racing suits, a VIP factory tour, a personal item of Carroll Shelby and a photo opportunity aboard an historical Cobra CXS2000. 

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Phillips Appoints Sam Hines International Head of Watches

Prominent watch specialist and authority, Sam Hines, has been named International Head of Watches for Phillips auction house. 

The international auction house recently established its watch department with Aurel Bacs and Livia Russo as its senior consultants. Phillips held its first watch auction since the early 2000s in May and reportedly doubled the total amount taken in by its closest rival during the week of horological auctions in Geneva.

While the watch department is based in Geneva, Hines will be heading Phillips’ global watch team from its recently opened Asian Headquarters in the Landmark Building in Hong Kong. The auction house also has watch specialists in London and New York.

Hines will work with Phillips’ watch team on the contents of the auctions in the fall season, including the November 8 sale in Geneva and the auction house’s inaugural Hong Kong sale on December 1. 

With 20 years experience in the auction world, Hines has held executive positions in New York and in Asia since 2008, spearheading many ground-breaking sales of important watches. In 2013 he was appointed International co-head of Christie’s watches department. Hines worked under Bacs at Christie’s. 

Highlights from Hines’ career include the discovery and sale of two previously unknown pocket watches from the third generation of James Ward Packard, achieving $2.7 million at auction in 2011, as well as curating the sale of Asia’s most expensive horological object; a pair of Singing Bird Pistols that sold for $5.8 million. He is also responsible for numerous auction records, including the sale of the only known Patek Philippe Star Caliber 2000 for $3.5 million, a Rolex cloisonné enamel wristwatch for $1 million and two sets of the Patek Philippe reference 5004 for $3.75 million.

“Sam has pushed the boundaries of watch collecting, expanding the awareness of the watch market to a vast network of established and emerging collectors. He has built his career on forming long term relationships with many of the world's watch collecting elite,” said Edward Dolman, chairman and CEO, Phillips.

“I proudly welcome my dear friend, Sam Hines. Sam has, without a doubt, the trust of the world’s key collectors and trade thanks to his unrivalled expertise, honesty, transparency and integrity. He is an important advisor to elite collectors, especially in Asia,” added Aurel Bacs, senior consultant, Bacs & Russo.

Hines was born in London and lives in Hong Kong with his wife and two daughters. He studied political science at New York University.

With Hines’ appointment, Phillip’s International Team of Watch Specialists now consists of:

Aurel Bacs and Livia Russo, senior consultants, Geneva

Nathalie Monbaron, business development Director, Geneva

Virginie Liatard-Roessli, department manager,Geneva

Paul Maudsley, international specialist, director of the London Watches Department, London

Kate Lacey, specialist, London
Paul Boutros, consultant and international strategy adviser, New York
Leigh Zagoory, cataloguer and junior specialist, New York
Jill Chen, business development director, Hong Kong 

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The Complicated Process of Defining A Grand Complication Watch

Patek Philippe Reference 959/J Grand Complication Timepiece at Aaron Faber Gallery.

The question of what are the components that define a grand complication timepiece seems fairly straightforward and at least two members of an esteem group of panelists discussing this topic said there is an absolute answer to this question. However, the definitive explanation proved to be elusive during a discussion about this and other timepiece topics during a rainy June evening at Aaron Faber Gallery in New York.

The fact is the discussion of grand complications is … well … complicated. First, you need agreement of what is a complication. In its simplest definition a complication is any feature to a timepiece outside of the simple display of hours, minutes, and seconds (for example, a date/day display). However, that doesn't quite cut it when trying to define the term in a grand complication, considered the most complex achievement of haute horlogerie.

Grand complications panelists (from left): Gary Girdvainis, Edward Faber, Michael Friedman, Osvaldo Patrizzi and Alexis Sarkissian.

Osvaldo Patrizzi, best-known as the founder of Antiquorum, the international auction house for timepieces, is one of the most connected, most respected and best known people in the world of haute horlogerie. He said the reason grand complications are so expensive and so rare is because it’s extremely difficult to fit several complications into such a small space and because the type and number of complications in a watch will affect its appearance.

“The more complications you want the more problems you have,” he said in his Italian accent.

He noted that he was among a small group of people who worked at creating a definition for a complication in an “ultra-complicated” watch.

“We spent one day to define what is a complication on a normal size watch,” he said. “A complication is when you are able to give one (piece) of information.”

Panelists were in relative agreement on this. The next question by the moderator, Gary Girdvainis, publisher and editorial director of the publications, WristWatch Magazine and AboutTime, was: Is a toubillon a complication?

The toubillon was invented by French-Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet, to (in simple terms) negate the effects of gravity on the accuracy of a timepiece. It is housed in a rotating cage that is often seen on the dial. It is a beautiful, complex device that is widely sought after among watch collectors. But does it provide information?

On this, Patrizzi, the man who in his own words helped give the definition of a complication, gave a long response that was noncommittal. 

[Update, July 24] Patrizzi clarified his statement saying that he has always considered a tourbillion a complication.

Michael Friedman, a timepiece auctioneer, a museum curator and noted expert on the history of horology, was more direct.

“The tourbillion is an incredibly complicated escapement but in my mind it’s not necessarily a complication,” he said. “It was a complicated escapement that Breguet designed to solve a very specific problem.”

The panelists, which also included Edward Faber, founder of Aaron Faber Gallery and author of American Wristwatches: Five Decades of Style and Design; and Alexis Sarkissian, founder of Totally Worth, a boutique distribution network for luxury timepieces; seemed to be in agreement. If Patrizzi was cornered I think he would agree as well.

So what are the complications that make up a grand complication? Again the panelists were in relative agreement: minute repeater, perpetual calendar, phases of the moon, grand and petite sonnerie, and split-seconds chronograph.

Friedman strayed a bit with his answer, saying a simple chronograph would be acceptable in his view.

“I’m a bit of a traditionalist for a definition. I view that it has to have minute repeater, perpetual calendar, phases of the moon (and) grand and petite sonnaire. These are the classic complications that need to be part of the grand complication,” he said. “Once we get beyond those basics, it’s a matter of definition. It’s a matter of companies marketing themselves in a particular way, whether something has an alarm, whether something has a split-second chronograph versus a standard chronograph. For me a grand complication can have a standard chronograph. It doesn’t have to have a split-second chronograph, partly because if we’re talking about a complicated watch from the 1870s, it likely would have had a standard chronograph function of a watch. So for me those are the classics.”

Friedman also noted that the same conversation would have been different if it was held at certain periods during the last 150 years.

“That’s one thing I love about this topic,” he said. “It’s a moving target and the definitions change over time.”

Panelists also discussed variations in the auction market for high-end watches, maintenance and repairs of ultra-complications watches, the increase of watch brands under corporate ownership and the need for more watchmakers throughout the world. These are all topics that need their own space.

The discussion was held the day before Christie’s was auctioning the earliest and most significant example of a Patek Philippe grand complication. The Stephen S. Palmer Patek Philippe Grand Complication No. 97912 is a minute repeating perpetual calendar split-seconds chronograph watch with grand and petite sonnerie and moon phases. It was manufactured in 1898. It has never been seen in public and it was the first time it ever appeared at auction. The watch was purchased on Oct. 3, 1900, for 6,500 Swiss francs by Stephen S. Palmer.

It sold for more than $2.25 million, a world auction record for a Patek Philippe grand complication.

Aaron Faber Gallery held a week-long exhibition that featured a similar grand complication as its centerpiece: a Patek Philippe Reference 959/J (top picture). Made in 1992, it has a perpetual calendar, moon phases, split seconds chronograph, grand and petite sonnerie, and minute repeater. 

It’s a steal at $1.5 million. 

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Christie’s Jewelry, Jadeite and Watch Sales Totaled $518 Million in 2010

“The Perfect Pink,” a 14.23ct. intense pink gem achieved $23.2 million in Hong Kong in November, 2010, to become the most expensive jewel ever sold in Asia.

Led by spectacular colored diamonds, jewelry sales at Christie’s International totaled a new record of $426.4 million, smashing the previous record of $395 million set in 2007. The international auction house said each of its major sales regions experienced significant increases, most notably Asia with (up 73 percent) and Europe (up 70 percent).

“This tremendous leap in Christie's results is due to a renewed confidence in the jewelry market, seen all over the world,” the company said in a statement. “With many new buyers in Europe, the U.S. and naturally Asia actively participating at a high level, competition has become more intense than ever for rare jewels and gems of the highest quality. In particular, collectors from Mainland China have become a formidable force as they bid enthusiastically on many top pieces, displaying a continued passion for jadeite and growing connoisseurship of ‘Western’ jewelry.”

Colored diamonds were undoubtedly the highlight of the year, with “The Perfect Pink,” a 14.23ct intense pink gem achieving $23.2 million in Hong Kong in November, becoming the most expensive jewel ever sold in Asia. Similarly, The Bulgari Blue (left), a two-stone ring featuring a 10.95ct vivid blue and a 9.87ct G, VS1 diamond, fetched $15.8 million or a world record $1.4 million per carat for the blue gem.

“Based on current market demand, the focus in 2011 will undoubtedly be the search for gems of the highest quality, historic diamonds and colored stones, as well as rare signed jewels, which international collectors consider the most desirable today,” Christie’s said.

In addition, 2010 was a strong year for Christie’s watch sales, which realized a record-breaking $91.2 million. Every watch sale hosted at Christie’s salerooms in Dubai, Hong Kong, Geneva, and in New York achieved sell-through rates above 90 percent by value and the top watch of the year was a unique Patek Philippe Reference 1527 manufactured in 1943 that sold for a record $5.7 million at Christie’s Geneva.

In total, jewelry, jadeite and watch sales took in $518 million for the auction house.

Total sales for Christie’s rose a spectacular 53 percent in 2010 to $5 billion, the highest sales total in the 245 year history of the firm. The figure is also the highest annual sales total ever recorded in the industry. Sales totals include private sales of $572.4 million, a year-over-year increase of 39 percent.

Timepiece Tuesday: Christie’s, Antiquorum Auctions; IWI 'English' Watches; Mayors Opens Rolex Store

As I write, the Christie’s “Important Watch” auction in New York had just ended. It was the last auction of the year for the international auction house and judging from the early results, some people will be receiving some spectacular holiday presents.

The evening’s stunner was a limited-edition “Kanthara” diamond-set wristwatch from Piaget (above) that sold for $602,000, double its high estimate. The 32 mm wide watch has nickel-finish signed watch is literally covered in diamonds, including a dial set with baguette-cut diamonds, oval case enhanced by emerald-cut diamonds, diamond-set crown, 18k white gold Piaget bracelet and hidden clasp set with emerald-cut diamonds.

Other highlights include:

A Breguet (Reference 3857) limited-edition platinum minute-repeating tourbillon wristwatch sold for $434,500, well above the high estimate of $350,000. It was produced in 1997 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Abraham Louis Breguet, who invented the tourbillion, which counteract the effects of gravitational pull on timepieces.

 

Patek Philippe had seven of the top ten sales for the evening, according to early results. Among them was a stainless steel chronograph watch with Breguet numerals that sold for $386,500 (left), above the high estimate; an 18k gold perpetual calendar chronograph watch with phases of the moon sold for $314,500; and an 18k gold perpetual calendar chronograph that sold for $266,500. More to come.

Antiquorum Auction

On Dec. 8 Antiquorum held its final watch auction of the year, featuring a FP Journe set of six platinum watches with champagne dials that sold for $200,500 and a white gold “Double Tourbillon 30 Vision” watch (left) that sold for $160,000.

IWI M1

British Watches

There are quality watches made outside of Switzerland. A case-in-point is IWI, a new luxury sports watch brand headquartered in Lancashire, England. Calling itself a “truly English brand,” the company is headed by watchmaker Ian Walsh. Studying Classic Horology at Manchester and later working with Tag Heuer, Walsh said it was while working with vintage timepieces that he realized that he wanted to recreate classic designs. The IWI stainless steel watches pay homage to motorsport. The watches contain Swiss automatic movements and The IWI signature crown is situated at 12 o’clock. Walsh says the classic dials inspire the glory days of auto racing.

Mayors Opens Rolex Store

Just in time for Christmas, Mayors jewelers opened its first dedicated watch store in Orlando, Fla. Called “Rolex Presented by Mayors,” the new store is located in the Mall at Millenia. More than 300 luxury timepieces are on display in the 1,100-square-foot space. The store is Mayors' second retail location in the mall.