Like Being in Wonderland ~ Antiquorum Hong Kong Watch Auction 26 Oct 2013 Preview In Hand Pics

It is always a pleasure to have the Antiquorum team in Singapore for the auction previews as it affords me the opportunity of having a feel of these wonderful watches in the metal. the truth is I am a watch nut... you give me a gajillion dollars and I'm buying a number of watches in this auction and some nice wheels too of course ;) but for amazing timepieces... there are SOOOO many out there that are worthy of the investment of time and money. to these amazing watches then and excuse me while I head out to buy a couple more lottery tickets :)

 

we begin with the classics but with a twist... Lot 246 Patek Philippe 3939 but with a gorgeous possibly unique dial ... Patek Philippe Ref 3939HR Tourbillon(one min tourby regulator) Minute Repeater Pink Gold [Estimate: USD 600,000 - 800,000] 34mm diameter yuh, to note if u only buy big watches ;)

 lovely...

top end of the estimate will be about S$1mn... not a small sum for most but the folks bidding on this have deep pockets of course

another extremely unique piece follows... Lot 236 Patek Philippe Ref.3796 No.9 Calatrava Special Dial White Gold Patek Philippe, Genève, "Calatrava", No 9, Made in 1988, sold on 25th, Jan. 1989 to Mr. Giorgio Seragnoli in Bologna, for his "Jubilee". Extremely fine and rare, 18K white gold wristwatch, with a special dial. Accompanied by a Extract from the Archives [Estimate: USD 23,000 - 36,000] 30mm diameter 

For a 150 years Jubilee...

then we have... Lot 245 Patek Philippe Ref 5104P Minute Repeater Perpetual Retrograde Calendar Skeletonized Platinum. Sold on July 20, 2011. Extremely fine, rare and important, minute-repeating, astronomic, self-winding, platinum wristwatch with perpetual calendar, retrograde date, moon phases, leap year indication. [Estimate: USD 600,000 - 800,000] Diameter 43mm Thickness 12mm

 as always for pieces in this rarefied category, the finishing is superlative

if any of u be saying what exactly does a minute repeater do click HERE to hear one in action and a detailed explanation from people who know what they are talking about and built this watch incidentally 

Lot 194 Jaeger Lecoultre Ref. Q1652422 Master Grande Tourbillon Continents Pink Gold First Example Offered At Auction Jaeger-Lecoultre, Master Grande Tourbillon Continents, 1000 Hours Control, Automatic, No. 09/20. Made in a limited edition of 20 pieces, sold on Dec. 27th, 2009. Very fine and unusual, oversized, self-winding, water- resistant, 18K pink gold wristwatch with champleve enamel dial, visible Jaeger-LeCoultre caliber 978 lightweight one-minute tourbillon, date, 24-hour indication. [Estimate: USD 64,000 - 90,000] Diameter 43mm Thickness 13mm

a whirlwind approaches the continent of ... Asia? 



next to the patek bling celestial Lot 237 Patek Philippe Ref. 6104G Celestial Diamond And White Gold Patek Philippe, Made in 2011. Very fine and unusual, astronomic, self-winding, 18K white gold and diamond set wristwatch with date, mean time indication, nocturnal sky chart of the Northern Hemisphere, moon phases and moon orbit, time of the meridian passage of Sirius and moon. [USD 258,000 - 387,000] Diameter 44mm Thickness 10mm

beautiful micro-rotor and a fine lookin movement with PP seal...

"the stars in the sky bring tears to my eyes... it's lighting my way tonight..."
not sure why i'm thinkin back to song lyrics from the past...

"oh love it shines like a burning star, falling from the sky... tonight"

I believe the expression is BOOM! goes the dynamite :)

GRAIL ALERT! GRAIL ALERT! :) we have the mighty Opus V... Felix Baumgartner and Harry Winston Rare Timepieces... I love this watch... in the opus series this and the III are standouts... LINK TO OPUS III... Lot 179 Harry Winston Opus V Pink Gold Harry Winston And Felix Baumgartner, Opus V, No. 36/45. The Opus V was made in a limited edition of 100 examples in 2005. Of these, 45 - including the present one - were made in 18K pink gold. Very fine and very rare, with satellite hour display, retrograde minutes, 120-hour power reserve, day and night indicator. [Estimate: USD 116,000 - 155,000] Width 46mm Height 41mm Thickness 15mm

"night and day... Under the hide of me... There's an oh such a hungry yearning burning inside of me & its torment won't be through... til you let me spend my life making love to you day and night... night and day" power reserve indicator(5 days PR) and day and night indicator on the front

service indicator(lets you know when to bring it in for service) and an adjustment that allows the owner to regulate the watch by +/- 15 seconds per day on ze back

satellite hour display consisting of three blocks, each with four numbers, that are arranged like satellites in a three-dimensional rotating system and tell the hour in turn as they rotate on two axes

then to another independent master... Lot 244 F P Journe Tourbillon Souverain Limited Edition Boca Raton Titanium F.P. Journe, "Invenit et Fecit", Tourbillon Souverain à Remontoir d'Egalité avec Seconde Morte, Made in a limited edition of 5 examples celebrating the one-year anniversary of the opening of the Boca Raton boutique in Florida. Sold in February 2008. Very fine and very rare, titanium Chronometer wristwatch with visible one-minute tourbillion regulator, constant force remontoir with dead-seconds, 42-hour power-reserve indicator, 18K pink gold movement and an 18K pink gold deployant F.P. Journe buckle. [Estimate: USD 116,000 - 155,000] Diameter 40mm Thickness 10mm

if u be asking what is a dead seconds, it's non-sweeping and it jumps 1 second to the next second...

and it's not all the big guns that I took pix of :) finally to some beautiful pocketwatches... wonderful enamel and jewel work on this Patek... Lot 135 Patek Philippe "Pompadour" Pair Cased Pendant Watch Yellow Gold Patek, Philippe & Cie., Genève, "Pompadour, amour et pomme". Made in 1895. Sold on December 11th, 1895. Very fine and unusual, keyless, 18K yellow gold, diamond and enamel pair-cased pendant watch. Accompanied by Extract from the Archives. [Estimate: USD 9,000 - 13,000] Diameter 31.5mm

very beautiful work on this piece... over a 100 years old and still the charmer ;)

they made great art pieces even back then...

and last but not least the AP Quantieme Perpetuelle Squelette pocketwatch! Lot 67 Audemars Piguet Perpétuel Calendar Skeletonized Dress Watch Yellow Gold, Quantieme Perpetuel Squelette, No. 002. Made in the 1990's. Very fine and rare, perpetual calendar, phases and age of the moon, 18K yellow gold dress watch. Estimate: 15,500 - 23,000] Diameter 49mm Thickness 7mm

in hand... always love em AP QP squelette pieces... ornate and beautiful :)

and i'm spent. a tiring weekend for me but most happy to do this post and remember these beautiful pieces in hand. have a good weekend! cheers, raph

Two Fridays Later... 2 weeks on the wrist.. An owners review of the SevenFriday P2/2 Works... which uhm... works ;)

well this is my honeymoon period with the watch of course so it's still rose tinted lenses and mind mode is switched to 'of course I made the right decision'... I have to address any and all cognitive dissonances for my own purchases right? that is if there are any :) [check out this LINK if u be asking what that is.. actually check out that link regardless as it highlights good info for watch buyers/lovers] for my post on the first range of sevenfridays click LINK

a cool way to try out a SevenFriday for yourself, just click the following and maybe fold some paper to give it its 13mm case height ;) P1/1   P2/1  P3/1
some great lifestyle shots of the watch here as well LINK

a looker for sure... the dial of the watch referenced as the "interface" by SevenFriday and the case of the watch is called the "box"

Ø Interface (Dial)
o Black with gold decoration and writing
o Highlights of golden color on applied index and hour hand
o Open balance wheel movement Miyota 82S7
o Customized with specific disk for 24H and small second functions
o Special minute hand designed to be part of the mechanical movement Ø Box (Case) 
o Stainless steel bezel in black PVD with yellow gold PVD decoration
o Stainless Steel case in sandblasted yellow gold PVD finishing
o Animation ring also in stainless steel with special mat black roughed PVD finishing  

but to be objective, I can point out some niggles from a 2 weeks ownership perspective so first up...

THE NIGGLES:

- the case is fairly big so for guys who will wear it with long sleeve shirts, it might be difficult to have it underneath the cuff if that is how you normally wear your watches

- the 24 hour running wheel is not aligned with too much precision. so although the time is say 1210 noon, my 24 hour wheel is pointing to sometime before 12 on the wheel {really a minor thing as I don't peer closely at it much as I know if its 12 noon or 12 midnight} on the flip side, one might say if u want to have it there, then have it be more precise

- the stock strap is comfortable but not too exciting and doesn't elevate the watch impo but it's a taste thing

- the wood box and materials should ideally not have the word Zurich Switzerland on it as well as the watch is more Japan(movement) and China(assembly and other parts) and a little Swiss(design, co. incorporated there). the earlier dials originally had Zurich on it as well until the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry asked that it be removed. i believe that it is better not to be ambiguous about these things. present stuff as they really are and not something it isn't
- the exposed balance bit does show that the movement is pretty raw but u won't be able to really tell unless u were using loupes or macro lenses/function on your camera... I warn u to avert your eyes to the pic below if u r sensitive to unfinished movements ;)
- mineral vs sapphire crystal...

everything above is a tradeoff I suppose eg. this particular exposed bit could be finished better but at what additional cost to the company and to the end customer and does it make a significant difference? not much really...

& THE PRAISES

- it's not a boring watch nor a copy of a copy of a copy - interesting case shape and a very well designed face. it's not another round watch or watch that some co.s churn out with loads of derivative dial designs and touches etc. some companies just do hommages or ripoff other companies successful designs with no thought of coming out with anything innovative and charge these kinda prices for their copies whereas here you have something fresh and cool here.

- still good bang for buck - Below S$2k for these timepieces that rock a lot better than many at that level and even above it. it's positioning is better than a lot of other sub-S$3k offerings(for eg fashion watches) and it's machine look lends it an independent flair/air to it. [when I say independent I don't mean companies that are not part of the major watch groups yuh... I mean the urwerks, mb&fs of this world]

onto some pics then... first up the crate it comes in and some of the stuff in it... it's not the usual watch box so the advice to carry with caution should be heeded as you might knock stuff u don't intend to as it's pretty long and big-ish and has woody sharp edges 

and there's a watch and warranty card in there of course :)

stock strap on it. as mentioned its comfy and nice but all black and plain-ish so I switched it out shortly after getting it. the top bit of bezel which has the gold line all round it is something the company is calling the animation ring and per the caseback it's made of AISI 316L which in English is Stainless Steel

some details... back of the watch with info on case size, strap size, water resistance and power reserve

crown and side of case... clean lines and chic... some of the other models have rubber(the nice bright white one) and the Riviera limited edition comes with wood on the side

buckle details... the case front and this has a tron thing going for it no? maybe that's why I likes it

strap changed to a pam bronzo strap which was 26mm so there was a little gap but not visible on account of where the lugs are...

size comparison with a 47mm panerai... as u can see the pam will wear much bigger as the lugs extend out a lot and it has its distinctive crown guard

the sevenfriday strap actually starts out closer where a 40mm watch strap/bracelet would begin... as shown next to another thing of beauty ;)

some shots of the watch in the wild and wristshots follow...

planning a course for an under sea voyage...

taking a spin in a german

 chilling by the waters :)

it then went for it's next strap change! I bought a super cheapo strap from China to experiment. so 28mm fake gator strap with white stitch that I painted a beige-y yellow color :) this is the result

and I must say that I find this to be the best style of strap for the watch. so may be ordering a proper custom gator strap with gold-ish stitch soon... or the opposite gold gator with black stitch... hmm

industrial work wear for this desk jockey ;)

and that's it. hope you enjoyed the review. oh and as the last couple of posts have been Omega or SevenFriday related, I promise the next won't be :) have a good weekend. Cheers, Raphael