Topline
A handful of Sotheby’s sales scheduled to take place before the end of the year will see a rare pink diamond worth up to $20 million hit the auction block, as well as a coveted Cartier “Mystery Clock,” a rare Patek Philippe paper weight clock and the Mercedes Gleitze Rolex Oyster credited with launching the brand’s name.
‘The Glowing Rose’ on offer by Sotheby’s in Geneva on Nov. 12.
Sotheby’s
Key Facts
A Rolex Cosmograph Daytona in yellow gold with a diamond-set bezel and dial and sapphire hour markers, nicknamed “The King,” is expected to fetch between $2 million and $4 million at an auction next week.
The watch is one of only eight of its kind, originally commissioned by Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said of Oman in the early 80s, to have been identified by the market, and Sotheby’s calls it “one of the rarest watches ever produced by Rolex” (current owners include John Mayer and billionaire Jay-Z).
A high jewelry sale in November will include a gem dubbed the “Glowing Rose,” a 10-carat, cushion modified brilliant cut pink diamond that is one of only three vivid pink cushion diamonds to come to market in the past decade.
The stone is being sold as a loose diamond and it’s the first time it’s ever been up for auction—it was mined as a 21-carat rough diamond in Angola in 2023 before it was cut and polished down.
A 1928 silver Patek Philippe paper weight clock that will be on the auction block in December is one of only three known to have been made by the brand, the other two belonging to collectors and entrepreneurs Henry Graves Jr. and James Ward Packard.
It is expected to sell for up to $1 million and is being sold alongside two never-before-seen Patek Philippe pocket watches each expected to fetch between $300,000 and $1 million.
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“The King” Rolex.
Sotheby’s
What Is A Cartier Mystery Clock?
A November auction in Geneva will include the Gunter Sachs Cartier Portico Mystery Clock, a rare and coveted piece that could sell for up to $6 million. The Cartier mystery clocks, first made in 1912, all have “floating hands” at the center of a translucent dial and no visible connection or gears. The Portico model that will be on sale next month, of which only six were made between 1923 and 1925, has Asian architectural details including a shi-shi character carved in rock crystal at the top. The clock has been owned by Gunter Sachs, industrial heir and husband of Brigitte Bardot, since 1966 and is up for sale for the first time in almost 50 years. .
What Is The Mercedes Gleitze Rolex Oyster?
A historic, nearly 100-year-old Rolex watch credited with propelling the brand to its legendary status will go up for auction for the first time in 25 years in November and is expected to fetch $1.3 million (significantly more than the $22,869 it sold for at Christie’s in 2000). The piece was the first practical, waterproof wrist watch and is stamped with “patent applied for,” meaning it is one of only a handful of pre-patent Rolex Oyster watches ever to appear on the market. The watch was made famous by endurance swimmer Mercedes Gleitze, who wore it on a chain around her neck during one of her early attempts to swim across the English Channel in the 1920s at the request of Rolex co-founder Hans Wilsdorf. The watch was underwater for 10 hours, and Gleitze proved Rolex’s claims the watch would perform while submerged and exposed to harsh conditions. The Rolex Oyster Perpetual remains one of the brand’s most popular models.
Mercedes Gleitze Rolex Oyster.
Sotheby’s