I Wish I Had a Time Machine, Part IV

by Nicolas Zalles

Welcome back to the fourth iteration of this series. If this is your first time reading, the premise of this blog is simple: to look back at watch prices and see how taste in collecting has evolved over the years. As we wrote in our very first article:

“A lot of them [watches and results] will inevitably give you that "damn, I should've bought that" feeling, and hence the Time Machine reference, but the idea behind the series goes beyond that. It'll explore fads and trends—some that turned out to be timeless, and others that'll make you wonder what people were thinking back then.”

We’ve now taken trips back to 2000, where you could’ve snagged a Paul Newman Daytona for $18K, and then to 2005, where a beautiful 1950s Fifty Fathoms sold for just $2.5K. There were also some highly questionable purchases that definitely wouldn’t win any beauty contests today.

So today we’re jumping back in the Time Machine and heading 15 years back to 2010. The world was still recovering from the 2008 financial crisis, stock markets had started to rebound, but confidence was shaky, and I think that was reflected in the auction catalogs. If there’s one thing that stands out to me, it’s the lack of quality pieces. It must have been tough for cataloguers to fill the pages, or even for dealers to source highly desired watches. Logic would tell you it was a great time to buy, which is true to some extent, but it also feels like well-capitalized collectors weren’t exactly running through the doors. At least, they were not putting their best watches up for auction just to accept whatever price the market offered. It is also worth noting that a good number of watches did not meet the reserve, which drives to the same point.  If you were active in the watch market back then, I’d love to hear your perspective down in the comments.

Interestingly, things changed drastically towards the end of the year and there was a great Christie’s auction with some amazing watches along with strong results, perhaps not coincidentally around the same time the S&P 500 had nearly doubled from its 2009 lows. 

This time, instead of our usual format of subtopics, we thought we’d change things up and post watches we genuinely think are awesome. Forget the price for a second and focus on pieces that don’t show up every day. While this blog has certainly covered investment potential, it's driven by something even more important: genuine passion for collecting

We’ll start with a bit of everything.

Since Piaget’s are in vogue we will start with this Polo retailed by Tiffany. This one sold for USD 3,840. I know I said we’d look past prices but unfortunately, heartbreak is inevitable when you look at past auction results. This one came with box and booklet.

Photo credit @antiquorum

I was bred into watch collecting in the mid to late 2010, and the love for vintage chronos was drilled into my collecting DNA. So here’s a handful I’d love to own if this Time Machine were real.

Photo credit @antiquorum

Photo credit @antiquorum

Photo credit @antiquorum

This split-seconds Minerva sold for USD 15,600. It is from the 1930s and it measures a whooping 42mm, massive for its era. The Certina next to it measures 37mm and got CHF 10,200. 

Before we get into some more expensive watches, one thing to note is that modern “Limited Edition” Speedmasters were in their moment at the time. That is perhaps best illustrated by comparing these two: This Apollo XI 35th Anniversary Omega, Speedmaster, a “limited” edition of 3,500 and this gilt dial 1016.

Photo credit @antiquorum

The Explorer sold for USD 4,560, while the Speedy went for almost double at USD 8,125. To reinforce the point, more than 20 modern “LE” Speedmasters in this auction sold for about the same or more than the 1016.  The catalog noted an overhaul on the 1016 movement was recommended, but I doubt that influenced the price since it still landed at the higher end of its estimate, while most of the Speedys blew past theirs.

Further proof of the trend is even these beautiful vintage Omegas carried little to no premium over that modern Speedy. The white dial 37mm Omega sector dial chrono sold for CHF 6,875, while the black dial went for CHF 10,000.

Photo credit @christieswatches

Now onto the rarer and more expensive pieces from the Christie’s auction I mentioned earlier. And again, all of these are watches I’d love to have in my collection.

Photo credit @christieswatches

First up, a very cool IWC Portugieser in steel and 42mm, that brought in CHF 33,750. Next, a Patek Philippe ref. 3412 with a pink dial, designed by Gilbert Albert which sold for CHF 99,000. And rounding it out, a Patek ref. 3940 retailed by Gübelin, that was bought for CHF 43,750. See, not your everyday watches!

Here are a few more I’d love to own, that could fit on our regular Before It Was Cool or  The One(s) That Got Away perfectly. 

This tropical dial Royal Oak ref. 5402 sold for only CHF 12,500.  And this Patek 3700J got CHF  27,500 that is described as “close to new overall condition”. For reference, another 3700J sold CHF 22,500 in the same auction.

Luckily for me and my bank account I have not been bitten by the Cartier bug yet, but here are some nice ones sold in this auction:

A Cartier Santos signed Bté S.G.D.G in white gold with platinum deployant clasp signed EJ for Edmond Jaeger, circa 1915s, sold for CHF 25,000. And a Cartier Tank circa 1935 inlaid with black enamel sides, sold for CHF 15,000. What could these pieces be worth today?

To wrap up, this special-order Cartier from the early 1980s. This is a series of only four watches each in different precious stones. This one being ruby and skeletonized went for CHF 105,000.  The other ones were made in sapphire, diamonds and emerald.

 And a special bonus. A Patek Phlippe ref. 1526 from 1944 signed by Cartier sold for CHF 147,000.

Time Machine over and done. Back to the future we go. Thank you as always for reading. Hope you enjoyed the ride. 

PS: 2010 was the year Instagram launched. Who could have thought how important it would become for the watch community?