Why are more million dollar watches being auctioned than ever before?
👨⚖️ Davidoff entered the weekend with about 40 goals. He has been blown away on a number of pieces, including a few Audemars Piguet framed perpetual calendars. “My mother always told me, ‘If someone is willing to pay more than you at an auction, that means you still have good taste,’” he say.
He had better luck at Antiquorum. Let’s set the context.
At the end of the first session, a Patek Amagnetic (literally a watch unaffected by magnetism) was put up for auction. The auctioneer started the auction for 55,000 francs… crickets. Davidoff pounced when there was no action. He asked if he could get it at 55,000 francs – normally bids need to be a step above the house’s original floor level – inadvertently bringing the entire auction to a halt.
The auctioneer stopped, turned, and grabbed his phone. After entering the figures to calculate how much profit the house would make if he accepted the bid, he countered: “I’m sorry, I can only do 58.” Davidoff, who was working on a tender with Adam Golden of Menta Watches, then took his iPhone out to use the computer and decided that he couldn’t. Then the auctioneer offered a price of 57 and a deal was made.
“It was the first time in my entire career that I saw someone negotiate a bid,” Golden told him.
🥼 One of the most surprising million dollar results is the Rolex Milgauss, the recently discontinued anti-magnetic watch was originally made for scientists. What is more surprising than the price is the buyer: Rolex itself.
“How do people know the auctioneer is from Rolex?” I asked Davidoff.
“Because I’ve seen her at auctions before,” Davidoff said. “She looks a bit like a librarian. She never said anything, she never raised the paddle, she just lifted her finger or nodded.