Rolex watches with army provenance rock Dubai public auction
The collectability of steel Rolex sports enjoys with martial provenance– wrist watches made for support pressures or police devices– continues unmitigated. The top performing whole lot at the just-concluded Christie's Watches Online: Dubai Edit was a Ref. 5513/17 ‘MilSub' from 1977 made for the British Navy. It cost a tremendous for $400,000 (AED1,454,042) versus a quote of $140,000-240,000.
The two-week-long online sale that wrapped up over the weekend break completed $5,592,000 (AED20,327,501) in sales for the auction residence. The ‘MilSub' is short for Army Submariner and also is a reference to the steel diver's watches[available here] Rolex produced the British Navy in the 1970's. These watches are highly desired as a result of their army backstories; they beginning appearing in the additional market after being “decommissioned” up for sale to the public.
A Rolex Sea-Dweller “Polipetto” from 2008 made especially for the dive system (Sommozzatori) of the Italian State Police (Polizia di Stato) cost $118,750 versus a pre-sale quote of $60,000-90,000. The nickname “Polipetto” is a referral to the Octopus emblem of the Sommozzatori on the dial. Better, a Rolex Submariner Ref. 1110LN from 2013 commissioned by Britain's Unique Reconnaissance Pressure Routine hammered for $50,000 when its pre-sale quote was between $20,000-40,000.
If it was not a vintage Rolex Submariner drawing in the big dollars, it was a Patek Philippe perpetual calendar chronograph. An unusual Ref. 5271P-011 in platinum with a diamond-set instance, a baguette-cut diamond-set at 12 o'clock on the dial and on the platinum deployant clasp sold for $200,000 (AED727,021). A highly-skeletonised yellow gold Patek Philippe watch Ref. 912 adorned with gems– 177 diamonds (worth 1.71 carat), 12 rubies (0.15 ct.) and also 55 pearls– brought $118,750 (AED431,669) versus a pre-sale estimate of $35,000-50,000.
It deserves discussing right here that this was the largest on-line sale organized by the auction home. Concerning 160 wrist watches were up for grabs during the two-week period. Collectors from the Center East got half of the top 10 whole lots sold at the auction. This year's brochure had an exhaustive collection of watches with connection to Gulf aristocracy or Center Eastern federal governments.
A yellow gold Rolex Ref. 18238 Day-Date with a dial birthing the logo of the UAE militaries sold for $21,500, above the pre-sale estimate of $12,000-18,000. A white gold Rolex Ref. 1803 with the Khanjar insignia (the national icon of Oman) hammered for $81,250 when the pre-sale estimate was $50,000-80,000. According to Christie's, 45 percent of the registrants at the sale were new to the public auction house. In overall, the public auction saw prospective buyers from 38 nations, across 5 continents.
