Three majorly sought after watches will headline Gardiner Houlgate’s Watch Auction this coming Tuesday.
First on the list is a limited Rolex Explorer II.
Just another Explorer II, you might say? However, the auction house’s website details how in 2012 Rolex were commissioned to produce a limited series of these Explorer II ref. 216570 models, exclusively issued to the 22 Special Air Service members.
The SAS motto “Who Dares Wins” is engraved on the case band while the back displays the SAS logo, a knife with wings, matched by a personal serial number bearing the original owner’s initials.
Making this a very special piece for the discerning collector.
It features in the auction with a pre-sale estimate of £20k-£30k.
The second on the list is a rare Heuer Skipper wristwatch.
It is one of the rarest and most coveted Heuer vintage wristwatches, the ‘Skipper’ nicknamed the ‘Skipperera’ from 1970 estimated to realise between £30,000-50,000.
The Skipper Carrera nicknamed the ‘Skipperera’ was designed and inspired by the 1967 America’s Cup winner, ‘The Intrepid’ for which Heuer were the official timekeepers.
The brand provided a full range of equipment for team Intrepid, including stopwatches, Navia waterproof clocks, and Aquastar chronographs and to commemorate the win, Jack Heuer commissioned the 7754 (based on the 7753), which today remains one of the brand’s rarest watches with potentially fewer than 30 examples known to exist.
The most notable characteristic of the watch being the dial colouring which is directly taken from the ‘The Intrepid’.
Consigned by the original owner who acquired the piece from new in the late 1960’s, who at the time was a director the UK based Heuer distributor, Chronosport Special Watches.
And last but certainly not least is a special Patek Philippe Nautilus automatic gentleman’s stainless steel wristwatch, reference no. 5800/1A-001 from 2007.
The 5800 was only in production for just three years as at the time collectors disliked the lack of masculinity when compared to the reference 5711.
With the low number of 5800 available in the market today, the reference 5800 has now been considered as a modern day classic.
Prices for these models have rocketed in value over recent years and if you are looking for this particular model online then you won’t find many, if any under £100,000.
For this example Gardiner Houlgate has placed a guide of £40,000-60,000 which should encourage the bidding contest.
This watch was purchased by the late owner from Mallory of Bath in 2007 and comes complete was all the literature and a very impressive presentation box.
