Vacheron Constantin and Rolex shine at Bonhams in Paris
Bonhams’ 17 June sale in Paris saw two rare, late-20th-century ‘jump hour’ timepieces smashing their pre-sale estimates.
Leading the charge at the Paris Fine Watches auction was a Rolex Daytona ‘Paul Newman’ Ref. 6239 (Circa 1968), a rare stainless steel chronograph with a sought-after exotic dial. It sold for €178,200 against a pre-sale estimate of €120,000–€180,000.
Also impressing on the day was a Vacheron Constantin Mercator Ref. 43050 (Circa 2003), a platinum limited edition watch with a cloisonné enamel map dial, which achieved a world record auction price of €140,100.
An F.P. Journe Chronomètre Souverain (Circa 2005) — a platinum manual-wind piece — doubled its estimate, fetching €113,430. While an A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 ‘Soirée’ (Circa 2001), which featured a rare mother-of-pearl dial, tripled its estimate to close at €76,600.
Other lots that caught the eye included a Patek Philippe Reference 3969 in platinum. Created in 1989 to celebrate the brand’s 150th anniversary and inspired by 1920s tonneau-shaped designs, the limited edition, manual-wind watch achieved €76,600, which was more than double its €30,000–€60,000 estimate.
And another Vacheron Constantin, this time an ultra rare 18K white gold Saltarello Reference 43041, fetched €63,900, dwarfing its €12,000–€18,000 estimate.
It led to the auction achieving total sales of €1,557,458.
