The Rarest & Most Expensive Watches On Earth - Patek, F.P. Journe, Audemars Piguet, & MORE

[Music] Well, well, well, everybody, Mr. Wonderful here in a very special magical place. If you're talking watches, with two great watch friends—first of all, Paul Boutros, the legendary auctioneer for very high-end watches. The Phillips auction is legendary; ever since the Paul Newman watch, remember that? What was that? 17 million dollars? 17.8 million in 2017. Estimates for 3 million—estimate was in excess of one million. He thinks it's going for one million, goes for 17. That established him as a rock star in the watch world.

And of course, Teddy Belzar, a good friend who's exploring all kinds of new entry-level watches, all the way to the collectibles. So we thought we'd gather today just days ahead of the Phillips auctions December 2022 because there's some very, very, very special watches in this tray; they're going to blow your socks off.

We're going to start with one that I really care about, okay? And it's going to auction. It's the second time I've done this. This is for charity, Brigham's Women's Hospital in Boston. This is the legendary Shark Tank steel white face Daytona worn in season 13 of Shark Tank. Now, it's with mixed emotions that I talk about this watch because I love this piece. This is a rock star watch, and it's the most favored by wardrobe designers for Shark Tank because it works so well with the suit I'm wearing and this red puff and the red band.

But Paul, tell us about the legend of the Daytona.

Ah, so Rolex's Daytona is absolutely a legend. It's one of the most iconic, one of the most desirable watches of all time, introduced in 1963. This is the latest generation steel Daytona, the reference 116500 LN, the ceramic Daytona, as it's well known. The design is inspired by the big red Daytona made in the 1970s and the 1980s, modernized for today's tastes. 40-millimeter case size, in-house Rolex movement—impossible to get at retail, as many, many people know. And we're honored to have it donated by you, with the proceeds benefiting the Women's Hospital. We're thrilled to have it, Kevin.

Thank you! How hard are these to get? Just if you wanted to get a Daytona, forget about the Shark Tank Daytona.

Yeah, so part of the legend of the Daytona is it's just so hard to get. When Rolex introduced the first self-winding Daytona in 1988, the waiting list turned out to be like seven years. It went from the worst seller to the best seller because everyone was waiting for a self-winding Daytona. I heard the story that Italian men that were living at home loved that watch so much that they scooped up the entire European supply. There are all these stories about Daytonas.

Teddy, you know this watch as well?

Absolutely, and I would say if you look at the propelling force that's been Rolex over the last decade, I think a big reason for that is partially the Daytona. The Daytona became a cultural icon in many ways. The Paul Newman sale was, I would say, the pinnacle when we saw this; that pushed everything forward in terms of what we've seen with the Rolex phenomenon that's happening right now with retail allocation and also just depreciation on the secondary market. That was an important moment in watch collecting. Paul Newman's association with the Rolex Daytona really propelled its success—not only the success of Rolex and the Daytona, but the success of watch collecting in general.

That's true. That's a very good point. I'm very excited about this, and of course, I want to support the charity that it's sending proceeds to, but it's just one of many incredible pieces. So let's go down—Teddy, you've selected six other crazy pieces. Paul agrees. Let's go down the hit parade here. What's next on the charts?

Do you want to start with something? Because we have some crazy things here that are maybe some of the most iconic watches of all time, crazy off the charts in terms of their availability. But you also have things—and I think it's important to show this—that certain other people that maybe don't have all the money to spend could still take part in these auctions.

So you want to start there, and then we can ascend up?

Absolutely! I'm very happy you picked out this one. Teddy, this is the Mad One by Max Büsser from MB&F. We look for watches for people across all walks of life, looking for the greatest watches regardless of price point. This one has a starting bid of one thousand dollars. Our published estimate is one thousand to two thousand dollars. It's offered with no reserve, so even a one dollar bid could win it theoretically.

This is a very sought-after model. When Max Büsser introduced it, he made about 100 for his closest friends and supporters. You can get it for maybe a dollar; you don't know—you never know! I promise you it will not go—there won't be a dollar! No reason lots could sell for very low!

Okay, but what do they trade for in the secondary markets now? The blue—the first version was only made for his closest friends, and this is an even more exclusive version of the first version made specifically for his brand partners. This one, on the secondary market, if it wasn't the particular provenance that this one has, is probably 12 to 15 thousand on the secondary market for the blues. This one was actually donated for Time for Art, which is a special charitable auction we're holding in conjunction with the Swiss Institute. It was donated by Eric Giroux, who is the legendary designer behind most of MB&F's creations. This was his personal watch donated to raise funds.

So something for everybody in this auction—and what's really cool about this is this is a Miyota movement, and they're already taking this very entry-level. This isn't a watch under 500; you can find that movement. But how they're able to use the traditional rotation of the oscillating weight to make it a unique presentation, to make it part of the cool feature—and then you also have on the outside the indication of time on the outside of the case. It's very cool to show the creativity.

Yeah, I mean it's extremely well made. That winding rotor, like a battle axe, is made of titanium and tungsten. Heavily weighted, tungsten is a very heavy metal, and it just dances all day long, spinning, and it just is mesmerizing. It's beautiful.

All right, next on the hit parade, moving up the feeding chain on price here, obviously.

Okay, you know what? Let's jump to cover lots. So these are on the front cover of our catalog, starting with the one at the top of our cover—it's a crash. It's a car chase crash. It is the legendary Cartier London Crash, the original introduced in 1967.

How many were made, Paul?

We have recent knowledge that approximately one dozen were made, introduced in 1967. The London Crash was sold in the Cartier London Boutique from about 1967 until 1989, approximately, and over all of those years, only about a dozen were made. This is the sixth to appear publicly. It's absolutely fresh to the market. It comes from the family of the original owner, who was a woman who bought it in 1970 from Cartier in London. She was a world-class collector of many things. She was also a philanthropist, but her jewelry collection was a standout. Her jewelry collection now resides at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

It's so intriguing! I would almost wear that myself.

I know it's a woman's piece.

No, it's a man's watch, actually. She was really ahead of her time. It's like a surrealist Salvador Dali just type of approach.

And then you mentioned before he started shooting the price that she purchased that for at the time?

Yes, yes, so they underpriced them. These watches were completely handmade. They're really unique, only 12.

Let me guess, it's going to go for half a million bucks.

So our estimate is 400 thousand to 800 thousand, and yeah, thank you. It's one way I should run this auction.

Yes, you're right. Don't feed this ego, please! But obviously, this is going to be a sought-after piece. It's extremely sought after—for me, it's one of the most magical watches of the 20th century. There's nothing like it.

That's fantastic—that's the importance of an auction house to actually authenticate the provenance of these watches.

Yes, so we take a lot of care in vetting every watch that comes to us, not only for originality, quality, and condition, whether it's stolen or not. You know, we have a staff of specialists around the world who work together with a board of advisors, making certain that the watches we sell are, and I feel the aura of these pieces.

Let's step it up a notch. I see an FP Journe in here.

Yes, let's talk about this piece. Now, I'm a huge Journe collector. This is incredibly rare—1999, I can tell this is a very, very early piece. And Paul, there's something interesting with this—it has a spelling error!

Yes, exactly! This is a very early Journe piece; it's number 38, made in 1999. So theoretically, it could be the 38th Journe ever made. It's a pink gold dial. It could be the very first Journe watch offered with a pink gold dial. We're not sure of that, but because it's so early and no earlier models are known, it's a possibility. Only six examples were made with a pink dial of this generation of tourbillon.

The case back has very shallow engravings—a characteristic of the earliest Journe models. And as you mentioned, it has a wonderful human error. There's a letter missing in the engraving; it's supposed to spell out "inv" for "invin" in Latin. Yeah, it's missing the V! It says "investit." FP screwed up on that one! The same thing in the prototype for the resonance—that is another issue.

It's complete with its original box and guarantee.

It's going to go for a crazy price!

I think it's going to do well. It's estimated at 300 thousand to 600. I predict it'll be at the higher end of the range. The Journe fever right now is unprecedented. It really has exploded on the scene. I'm considering it the fourth pillar of watch collecting now after AP, Rolex, and Patek—it's just as important!

Yeah, he's extremely well loved. His designs really appeal to people around the world, and his vision for watchmaking and his dedication to timekeeping precision and accuracy—it's remarkable.

All right, let's keep moving here. There are some other extraordinary pieces. Teddy, your choice!

I want to talk about the George Daniels.

Okay, George Daniels. If you don't know what this is, this is probably the pinnacle of watchmaking for many, many, many collectors. And something unique about Phillips—you've become sort of the nexus for this brand in the secondary market, right?

Yeah, so we are—how did that happen?

We are long-time advocates of independent watchmakers. We've dedicated chapters in our auction catalogs for years because we believe in independent watchmaking. They're pushing the state of the art of watchmaking design and also aesthetics in the realm of independent watchmakers. George Daniels is widely considered the godfather of the current independent movement—one of the greatest watchmakers of all time, especially in the 20th century.

Smith owes a lot to him.

Yes, and Roger Smith was his mentee—his one and only protege, basically. And this watch is the George Daniels Anniversary made in partnership with Roger Smith.

So, it was George Daniels' design, and Roger Smith had some input and made them.

This has been likely someone who already owns some of his watches is going to go for this.

It's possible because people are collecting verticals of this if they can also provide contact—we're talking about under 50 watches he ever produced!

Yeah, so in the handmade world of George Daniels, in his entire lifetime, he made two wristwatches completely handmade by himself and about 25 pocket watches—so less than 30 in total by himself. With the partnership with Roger Smith, The Smith's an assistant on this piece?

Yes, yes, so Smith helped create it. And of the anniversary pieces, there are about 47. There's 35 in yellow gold, 12 in platinum, and the rest in white gold.

Smith has also achieved that kind of legendary status. He's no longer taking orders for watches.

He's closed his orders—a book closed—his order book?

Yeah, he can only make so many. They're really handmade; they're the pinnacle of watchmaking in general and the apex of British watchmaking today.

Okay, I'd like to pull something out of this tray which I'd never seen before—didn't believe it existed! I thought it could have been a Frankenstein watch or somebody that somehow painted it with a spray can. What is this AP doing in blue?

Yes, so this is the latest version of Audemars Piguet's ceramic watches, announced, I believe, in September 2022. This is the first one to appear publicly. They're impossible to get. Everyone we've shown it to has said to us, "I've never seen one before!" and we've never seen one before. And I thought I've seen everything! So it's entirely made of blue ceramic, finished to AP's very high standard—five different finishing techniques for the case and the bracelet. To do that with ceramics is extremely difficult.

The way light plays off of all these surfaces makes the watch very vibrant and lively. The blue color is a chameleon; under different lighting conditions, it looks dark blue under some, it's bright blue. It's a perpetual calendar, 41 millimeters. This is a special order piece—there's only one like it with an Eiffel Tower on the case back. The consignor is a one of a kind.

This is a one of a kind?

The rotor has an Eiffel Tower at the center—skeletonized Eiffel Tower. The proceeds of the sale—all profit will be donated to a charity.

Yeah, I think this will be generating a lot of buzz because nobody's seen it before, and yet it's a legendary piece. I mean this is so legendary. I'm going to be interested to see what happens there.

All right, Teddy, your turn. There's one left on the table—Patek chronograph. Now you cannot go wrong with this piece. Give us the history of this—I mean collectibility, value long term.

Yeah, is this specifically signed to a retailer here in the U.S.?

This is El Supremo stuff! So yes, let me see. One of the most important ones for last. So this is another cover lot featured on the front cover alongside the Cartier Crash. This is a Patek Philippe reference 2499 perpetual calendar chronograph. In the field of collectible Pateks, like Rolex has the Daytona, which is the most sought-after model, the most sought-after collectible Patek is widely believed, you know it is—and it is the 2499, produced since 1951 until about 1985, and only 349 examples across four different series.

This is a third series example from 1973. It has dramatic long downturned curved lugs, a very modern case size of about 38 millimeter diameter—perfect for today's tastes—really bold, beautiful Dauphine hands. All of the dial printing is raised hard enamel. What you see is not ink; it's actually engraved into the surface of the dial, filled with hard enamel, baked into a high-temperature oven to be absolutely indelible—just like a tattoo. So it could survive hundreds of years; even if you clean the dial, that print won't go away.

This watch is well preserved; the dial's never been cleaned, the case is extremely sharp, and it's absolutely special because of its uniqueness. It's the only one in the world signed House. House was an American retailer of Patek Philippe. They had about 10 boutiques on the West Coast of the United States. There are other House-signed Patek Philippe watches; there's no other House-signed reference 2499—it is, in a sense, a one of a kind.

It's a one of a kind?

Yeah, what's the estimate on it?

Once again, four hundred thousand to eight hundred thousand dollars.

That's a wide range! Are you concerned about the market being a little softer in the secondary market for watches right now?

You know, it depends on the type of watch. We've seen a bit of softness in, I guess, hyped modern pieces that were made in large quantities. Call it what it is—Richard Mills, for example, they've come off quite a bit. It's, you know, certain brands that were—there was a lot of speculation, I think, about future growth.

Yeah, and even, I mean just the sports genre. I mean, but you talked about if you look at the pillar of Patek Philippe. I mean, this is what I think of. I think of perpetual calendar chronograph. This is the design format that I think of when I think of the brand. People say Nautilus, think of Aquanaut, but I go back to the 20th century.

The Nautilus is Johnny come lately in the context of Patek Philippe, I think 76 and then you have—

Yeah, I mean this is timeless in the sense that it will be in style forever.

Exactly! And so in the field of vintage, the prices—what we've seen there is slow and steady healthy growth. They've actually beaten the S&P for the last 11 years. We haven't seen hype; we haven't seen crazy price increases! And so the field of inches is a little bit a different story.

I think there is an asset class for me when I talk to investors. Watches have come on the scene now, and people are starting to appreciate a portfolio of pieces you enjoy. You wear them; storage is a little costly because you have to vault them somewhere. But they're doing very well, and they're beating the market, the stock market, what we say.

So we say watches are, you know, things that you can wear and enjoy 24 hours a day, indoor and out, and they have enduring value. If they go up, it's a wonderful thing; if they don't, at least at the end of the day, you have something you love and you can wear and enjoy.

And how many things in our day-to-day lives can we actually take with us everywhere? You know, you think about you getting a car, but how many hours are you in a car? Maybe you're even your shoes, your bed—there's nothing really that you spend more time with on a day-to-day basis, and it says something about you and starts conversations. That's what I love about it, and these dials are so extraordinarily different; it's wonderful.

Anyways, thank you very much, Paul. Thank you very much, Teddy. Thank you very much, Kevin. I can't wait to see what happens with my white face, you know, steel Daytona—the classic Shark Tank season 13. Just love this!

All right, thank you, everybody! See you soon.