Rolex Submariner Sells for Record $1 Million at Christie's New York
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A very fine, extraordinarily rare, and early Stainless Steel Automatic 1956 Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner with Center Seconds and Gilt 'Explorer Dial' was sold for a record $1,068,500 at Christie's in An Evening of Exceptional Watches auction in New York.Rolex Submariner Sells for Record $1 Million at Christie's New York
A very fine, extraordinarily rare, and early Stainless Steel Automatic 1956 Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner with Center Seconds and Gilt 'Explorer Dial' was sold for a record $1,068,500 at Christie's in An Evening of Exceptional Watches auction in New York.Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner was numbered 200/666 and is circa 1956. It was estimated to sell for $500,000 to $1 million, and so exceeded its mark slightly. The watch, with an automatic caliber 1030, features a black dial with luminous Arabic numerals and markers and an original Nato strap. Ref 6538 is known for its big crown and the Explorer dial with Arabic numerals at 3, 6, and 9. The story of its owner is an interesting one that includes working in the Arctic and traveling the world. Essentially, he bought the watch for 100 Canadian dollars in the 1950’s, and wore it his entire life. He passed the watch on to his son, whose friend suggested that it could be valuable, noted The Forbes.The second largest sale of the night was also a Rolex. This was a rare steel chronograph Oyster Cosmograph, “Paul Newman” model with a panda dial and steel bracelet. Circa 1969, an original invoice stating the watch sold for 800 Swiss Francs on August 19, 1971, accompanied the manual-wind watch. The watch sold for $732,500, noted The Forbes.The New York auction, dubbed An Evening of Exceptional Watches, sold 95 pieces for a total of $7,773,375.The Rolex Submariner and the Daytona were the two most expensive watches but there were six Patek Philippe pieces in the top 10 lots, including a 2006 platinum perpetual calendar split seconds chronograph with moon phases, which sold for $212,500, and a 1930s gold minute repeater that went under hammer for $708,500.Christie's stated that “in articles about Patek Philippe repeaters the watch either was not mentioned or described as ‘unknown.’ This is because since the day it was sold the watch has been in the same family. Very few were ever put into production and those that were produced were reserved only for the most important clients.”http://www.blouinartinfo.com/ Founder: Louise Blouin Read more