Antiquorum, a specialist watch auctioneer, will be holding a May sale entitled Important Collectors’ Watches, Pocket Watches & Clocks at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Geneva on May 12 & 13. The sale will offer close to 700 extraordinary lots including important timepieces, horological documents and tools as well as an exceptional collection of 400 watch keys. More than a few private collections have been consigned to the sale that is spanning several centuries of fine watch making as well as watches with important provenance.

Patek Philippe 5033 and 5016
The two main highlights of the sale are certainly the extremely rare and important platinum Patek Philippe “Ref. 5033, minute repeating wristwatch, the first time one of the special limited editions of Ref. 5033P-001 has appeared at auction, as well as a very fine and rare Ref. 5016, also in platinum, by the same manufacturer.

Watches with historical- and fascinating provenance
Four historically important watches are included in the sale such as a pocket watch by Le Roy that once belonged to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, an IWC wristwatch formerly the property of Charlie Chaplin, an Art Deco wrist watch by Patek Philippe sold in 1924 to one of the founders of Coca Cola as well as the fine pendant watch of Napoleon III.

Two very important Rolex Prisoner-of-War watches
including a 1940s Rolex chronograph Ref. 3525, that belonged to a British prisoner of war at the Stalag Luft III camp in Nazi Germany. With it is the logbook Corporal Clive Nutting of the Royal Corps of Signals kept during his wartime captivity. It’s a collection of unpublished cartoons, illustrations and photographs revealing a new insight into camp life and the mass breakout of 76 POWs made famous in the movie, The Great Escape. Included in the papers is Nutting’s correspondence with Rolex, confirming the remarkable marketing campaign the Geneva brand launched during World War II.
The watch is delivered with original box, certificate and the complete set of correspondence with Hans Wilsdorf.

One session is entirely dedicated to 76 pieces of “Léon Hatot Important Art Déco Clocks & Wristwatches” made in the 1930s, including an aquarium clock, unique in terms of size and perhaps the most spectacular of pieces made by Hatot, representative of his inventiveness and creativity.

Important Collection of Watch keys
Highly important and one of the largest private collections of 400 watch keys will be auctioned in the May sale. This important, Swiss, collection, to be sold without reserve, has been exhibited in the Musée d’Horlogerie in Le Locle, Switzerland in 2004 and right thereafter in the Winterthur Museum, Switzerland in 2005. The 400 keys have been ordered into 40 lots of 10 keys approximately.

Several Important Private Collections
The first timepieces included in “THE COLLECTION; The Cream of the Crop” (see VOX, Antiquorum’s magazine, Spring 2007), are offered in this sale such as watches made by some of the finest watch manufacturers : Patek Philippe, Cartier, Jaeger Lecoultre, Breguet and Rolex.

More than 80 modern watches from the collection of a Canadian gentleman, including brands such as Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, Omega, and Breguet. Most of the timepieces in this collection are sold with original case and certificate, much appreciated by collectors.

40 Objects and timepieces from the collection of a Spanish gentleman comprising some very fine horological objects as well as pocket- and wristwatches.

Source: Antiquorum

www.antiquorum.com

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