In the year since Sotheby’s suspended its watch sales, collectors increasingly have turned from uncertain financial markets to tangible assets. Watches—seen as a hedge against currency moves and a way of playing the rising precious metals market – particularly have benefited from the shift. At least that’s the assumption, and Sotheby’s will have an opportunity to test it when the auction house resumes its watch auctions this week.
The London sale will offer 164 lots, the highlight of which is the “millennium” wristwatch, one of only 48 made by Englishman Dr. George Daniels. It carries an estimate of $60-$90,000. Other noteworthy offerings include a 2000 Girard-Perregaux tourbillion with three gold bridges, with a high estimate of $60,000, and a Richard Mille RM005-FM wristwatch (estimated at $18-27,000). Leading the oddity department, there’s a 1988 Movado Times/5 designed by Andy Warhol, which features five dials with different New York views.
Read more at Financial Times.
