Winding Down The Weekend
A weekly update on what to check out in the world of watches.
by Charlie Dunne
Collectability | Five Patek Philippe Watches for Under $5,000
Upon noticing a YouTube alert on my phone reading “Five Patek Philippe Watches for Under $5,000” I clicked over to the app just as fast as a few months prior upon reading “How I lost Over $1,000,000 Selling Patek Philippe Watches Too Soon”. A bit of clickbait never hurts, but sub-$5K Pateks is not your everyday subject. Within the video, Reardon highlights five key reasons why viewers should consider the “archaic” pocket watches instead of wristwatches:
1) A connection with history and tradition: when you feel, touch and wind a pocket watch, you're connecting to something real with a level of quality that is simply not possible to replicate today at the same price.
2) Workmanship of the dial: when you look at the dial of a Patek Philippe pocket watch you are buying one of the finest examples of enamel manufactured in the early 20th century. Each was hand-painted and in many cases, made on gold plate. The quality of the manufacturing is second to none.
3) Workmanship of the movement: Patek Philippe pocket watch movements represent some of the finest timepieces ever made. Every independent watchmaker today strives to make a movement as fine as those found in Patek's early pocket watches.
4) Workmanship of a decorated case: early pocket watches were often decorated with enamel and engraving such as the 'Murat' example shown in the video. Yet once again, it is not possible to replicate the level of craftsmanship that was required to engrave and enamel the exquisite detail on this pocket watch case for under $5,000. There is nothing that is made today that is of this quality and this beauty -- the applied gold numerals on the dial, the blued-steel spade hands -- every detail is about Patek Philippe quality.
5) Preservation of condition: because pocket watches were kept safe in pockets, they are often extremely well preserved. John shows an example of a pocket watch from the 1950s which is in mint condition.
Collector Check-In: Aly & AJ In Concert
Watch Spotting At Breitling: Part 1
Happenings: HSNY Monday, June 6th
The Genesis of the Royal Oak: From Iconoclast to Icon, by Sébastian Vivas
In 2022, the Royal Oak watch is celebrating its 50th anniversary. In preparation for this event, the Audemars Piguet Heritage team spent a few years in the brand’s archives to better understand the history of this iconoclastic timepiece, which became a cultural icon within and beyond watchmaking.
This lecture will share the results of this ongoing research, while shedding light on the major actors involved in the watch’s creation, among whom are Italian agent Carlo de Marchi, designer Gérald Genta, and former CEO of Audemars Piguet Georges Golay. It will also pay tribute to the many people and companies that contributed to the timepiece’s challenging development: case-maker Favre-Perret, movement-maker LeCoultre & Cie, bracelet-maker Gay Frères and famous dial-maker Stern Frères.
At the June 6, 2022, lecture of the Horological Society of New York, Sébastian Vivas, Heritage & Museum Director at Audemars Piguet, will distinguish myth from reality in terms of the watch’s creation process as well as its reception, commercial success and extraordinary destiny.
The Case For Giving Someone A Watch
Following up on the advice of making the newsletter a bit more personal, I thought I would share a small story and opinion. Whether by an employer or a friend, when a timepiece is gifted to you it’s always very special. And while Ben Clymer may have you fooled into thinking there is nothing more wonderful than sharing a watch with your significant other, I will argue with the High Priest of Horology by stating: There is nothing, and I say that figuratively, more wonderful than giving a watch to a friend!
A few months back I had the privilege of giving the world’s foremost Vulcain Cricket collector a grey-dial S2328A which had been evading him for a few years. And before you accuse me of humblebragging, just know I got the watch for super cheap. Back to my point, I have been given a number of watches over the years, and it’s difficult to describe how that makes you feel. So when the opportunity presented itself to be on the other side of the equation, I couldn’t help myself.
To provide a bit of backstory, I came across the watch through a close friend Giorgio D'Auria. I met D’Auria at my previous job during his senior year at Flagler College when he was interning at my office. Instantly, I became a fan of Giorgio because of his intrigue for our clients and the tasks we had given to him. It was not long before he noticed a watch on my wrist and pointed out that we shared a common obsession. Years after completing his internship and moving to California, Giorgio and I would continue communicating with each other. It was in the third quarter of 2021 that he sent me a Goodwill listing of the grey-dial Cricket. At first, it was difficult to determine the dial’s condition. I asked if he would be opposed to letting me go for it. Like the true gentleman he is, he gracefully backed out. A few hundred dollars later, the watch arrived in insane condition. Showing it to Eric Wind, he expressed an interest in buying it from me. At that point, I insisted that I wouldn’t accept his offer and instead gifted it to him on the spot. Being that Wind had not only sourced (and given) several Crickets that are now in my personal collection, I found it to be a huge achievement to be able to find one for his collection. Eric would go on to wear the S2328A within his Rolex Explorer Reference Points video, having several collectors intrigued about the watch on his wrist.
Now would that watch be as special had I kept it on my wrist? The answer is no. Seeing the watch find a good new owner and then be involved in a great journey was much more satisfying. And that has nothing to do with the fact I would be given a different example months after. Being able to put a great watch on the wrist of a fellow watch-loving friend is the ultimate joy for a collector. Yet there is one final act needed to bring the saga to an end, and that is finding a Cricket for Giorgio who played an integral role in the story. Stay tuned for the next installment of ‘The Case For Giving Someone A Watch’.