Seven Pocket Watches That Will Make You Forget Wristwatches (And Wonder Why They've Gotten So Pricey) From The Antiquorum 'Rare Patek Philippe & Extraordinary Selection of Pocket Watches' Auction

The lion's share of attention from collectors goes to wristwatches – this despite the fact that the wristwatch has existed for only a fraction of the time watches as a whole have existed. It's not hard to understand why – pocket watches demand care in handling that wristwatches don't; they tend to look, in general, more alike than not; and moreover, carrying one generally means wearing a waistcoat. The much lower demand, though, means that for a fraction of the cost of a collectible wristwatch, you can get something that represents an almost unbelievable amount of real horological content, and if that's what you're looking for, pocket watches are the only way to go.

Antiquorum's "Rare Patek Philippe & Extraordinary Selection of Pocket Watches" auction is going to be held on the 15th of May in Geneva and it's absolutely chock full of incredible pocket watches, including three tourbillons from Vacheron Constantin, three Urban Jürgensen tourbillons by the legendary Derek Pratt, more tourbillons by master watchmakers Bornand and Guinand, and a slew of complications and art pieces that have to be seen to be believed. A very big chunk of the catalog is devoted to pocket watches from Urban Jürgensen; Antiquorum tells us that they came from a single Danish family's collection. Let's take a closer look at some of these thoroughbred horological machines.

A Thomas Earnshaw Quarter Repeating Pocket Chronometer

Thomas Earnshaw (1749-1829) was one of the greatest of all English watchmakers, and a renowned chronometer maker; this watch was made in his workshop 1819-20. Earnshaw was famous for his chronometers and his contributions to precision timekeeping, and this is a wonderful example of watchmaking at a time when some of the most important basic precision horological technologies were being developed. This watch has a spring detent escapement of Earnshaw's own design, as well as an early compensating balance, and is designed from the ground up as a high precision timekeeping instrument. As is the case with many of the pocket watches in this auction, it's really an insider's piece – an incredible opportunity for someone who understands Earnshaw's importance in horological history. Obviously this isn't a watch that Absurdly low estimate for a watch of this technical importance and beauty: $5,200 to $7,300.

Three 20th Century Observatory Tourbillons From Vacheron Constantin

Any observatory tourbillon represents the apex of watchmaking as an exercise in high precision timekeeping, and seeing one in the metal generally requires either special circumstances, or a little extra effort, or both (the last one I saw required a trip to Switzerland and a drive up to the Vallée de Joux to visit Jaeger-LeCoultre). Any one of these three – lots 164, 165, and 166 – could be the centerpiece and high point of any collection; having three of them in one place at the same time is another fantastic opportunity for a focused collector. Unlike the Earnshaw, they're not going to be exactly bargain priced – they're all three 20th century production (lot 164, above, was completed in 1931, has a Guillaume balance, which is the most sophisticated type of compensation balance ever made, and it won first prize in its category at the Geneva Observatory competition the same year) and their brand pedigree ups the price as well.

Estimates on all three are $52,000 to $73,000. That said, by modern pricing standards this is still a screaming steal. Last year, Vacheron Constantin quietly made, at the request of a client, the Coffret Observatoire series of pocket tourbillons – they're a set of five pocket tourbillons, each with a special escapement. According to a discussion on Vacheron's Hour Lounge, the final price was about $4.34 million. That works out to $868,000 per watch. Now this isn't to say that the collector who ordered those watches was overcharged; the Coffret Observatoire watches were the recipients of a phenomenal amount of additional work over and above their tourbillons, including the refitting of the base tourbillon calibers with exotic escapements – but it does underscore just how much value can be found in vintage pocket watches if you know where to look and what to look for.

The lots can be seen here: 164, 165, and 166.

Three Urban Jurgensen Tourbillons By Derek Pratt

Derek Pratt was one of the most widely admired master horologists of the 20th century and these pocket tourbillons, made for Urban Jürgensen, are some of the best examples in existence of his work. Pratt was more than a watchmaker – he was a horologist and experimenter in the spirit of Breguet and Daniels (he was a close friend of the latter and very much involved in the development and evolution of the co-axial escapement). These three lots aren't bargains in an absolute sense either, but as with the Vacheron observatory tourbillons, the degree to which horological value here absolutely outstrips anything you could get for a similar cost in a wristwatch is staggering. Lot 225, above, is a pocket tourbillon with remontoire d'egalité (a constant force mechanism) on the escape wheel. Lot 226 is a pocket tourbillon with a bimetallic compensation balance (completed in 1980, a year when it took a person of a certain fixity of purpose to make a pocket tourbillon with a bimetallic balance!) and lot 227 was completed the same year as 226 and is of identical construction. Estimates on all three are the same: $52,000 to 73,000; I'd be strongly inclined to go for 224 on the strength of the remontoire on the tourbillon, but you can't really go wrong here.  

Listings for these lots are here, here, and here. The catalogue is huge, by the way. Just for comparison's sake, the last lot, no. 478, is a Paul Newman Daytona reference 6239, with an estimate of $68,000 to $89,000.  

In matters of taste there can be no dispute, it's said. However, if you've a budget of around $60-70k you can get what's basically a very nicely designed but horologically completely uninteresting steel sports watch, that for reasons having to do almost entirely with cosmetics and the ease with which cosmetics can be understood, as well as some historical accidents of fashionability among affluent collectors, is for now very expensive – or you can get something that represents so much enduring craft and care in every respect that really matters in watchmaking, that comparing it to the PN is such an unfair fight that it's over before it starts.

It's true that ultimately, all value is perceived value, and all value is relative. It's hard to avoid thinking, though, that in watch collecting nowadays, some values are more relative than others.

See the entire catalogue here.

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Bring a Loupe: A Stunning Rolex Daytona, A Late Breguet Type 20, A Cool Favre-Leuba Bivouac, And More

If you like chronographs you are in for a treat this week. Expect to find a crazy good Daytona, a forgotten military Breguet, and an oversized Bulova straight from the 1970s. And you will get acquainted with the innovative Favre-Leuba Bivouac, providing no less than an altimeter on your wrist – the smartwatch of its time, if you will. This is your Bring A Loupe for April 29, 2016.

A Breguet Type 20 With A Larger Case

The Type 20 is the proof that Breguet offers more than elegant dress watches with guilloche dials. Jack went all in with the modern edition here, but here you see a transitional version offered after the original 38 mm chosen by the French army in the 1950s. Indeed, Breguet released it after the luxury house Chaumet had taken control of the brand in 1970. On that occasion, the Type 20 got a larger 40 mm compressor case and a sleek black bezel. This version existed in both two and three-register layouts, with, respectively, the caliber Valjoux 235 and 725, both offering the flyback function that the original military contract stipulated. Note that this version never made it into the French Armed Forces, as its cost was judged excessive at the time. Finally, in 1995 Breguet released the current version of this chronograph, named Type XX instead of the original Type 20 borne out of the eponymous military specs. I wish this listing had a better picture, but nonetheless it seems the lume dot has disappeared from the bezel.

This Type 20 from the 1970s can be found for 13,000 Euros (or around $14,500) on a French forum here; it comes with the two last service invoices from Breguet, the last one dating only from a few months ago.

A Rolex Daytona Reference 6263 With Papers

The Rolex Daytona needs no introduction – this reference 6263 showcases how good they look. The Panda dial here is irresistible; without the red Daytona script the focus on its harmony is even stronger. And our detailed checklist looks pretty good: the case offers great lugs, the pushers are original – a point to always check with Daytonas – and the dial has all its lume dots present. Furthermore, it comes with all the paperwork, from the original certificate to the booklets – a rare set with a Daytona. Note however that the bracelet reference 78350 is a later one, a replacement part that has little to no negative impact on this chronograph.

A dealer specialized in vintage Rolex is offering this great Daytona from 1972 for $56,000 here.

A Favre-Leuba Bivouac With An Altimeter And Barometer

Bivouac, the name of this Favre-Leuba, announces the purpose of this tool watch: this one is for hardcore explorers, the type that defies the elements in some remote location. And this is the reason it actually offers an altimeter and a barometer, something you almost never see in a "classic" wristwatch. Here, the red hand indicates any change in air pressure, meaning you are either changing altitude or facing an impending weather change, if not both. This watch comes with its original bracelet, but its functioning is not guaranteed – as the seller seems unsure of how to operate it. And to be frank, as a true city-boy, I have no idea how to interpret the change in air pressure for the altimeter, but I guess the rotating bezel is there for that purpose; this thread here provides a seemingly satisfactory interpretation.

This aptly named Bivouac is listed on eBay here; at the time of publishing bidding was below $700.

A Bulova Chronograph "C" With A 43 mm Case

This Bulova wears its 43 mm size without apology – on the contrary, it was intended as a clear asset to read the time at just a glance. And with such a striking dial, getting attention for this chronograph is pretty much guaranteed. The colors and the shape could only be from the 1970s, and yet on the wrist it makes total sense – a very cool command center with a signed mesh bracelet to top it off. The condition of the example here is pretty stellar, except for a small ding on the bezel. This is the sort of watch you won't easily forget, for better or worse.

The dealer Watchsteez just listed this super funky Bulova for $3,999 here.

A Girard-Perregaux Olimpico Reference 9227FA – Probably For The 1976 Olympics

Just before Christmas, we introduced you to an outstanding Olimpico from 1968 here, coming full set – one of the most exciting eBay listings I had seen in a while. While this Olimpico might be in lesser condition, it is definitely worth your attention. The Olimpico was Girard-Perregaux's way of honoring each Olympic Games from the 1950s through the 1990s, and at first glance, you would probably guess that the present watch is almost surely from the 1970s judging by its 39 mm cushion case. And you would be right; in fact, it seems the reference 9227FA was unveiled for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal according to the review here; interestingly, another Olimpico claims the same spot as covered on another forum here. Note that the crown has been replaced, the second hand has lost its lume, and the dial has lost its lume dots. In addition, the chronograph caliber from Excelsior Park would almost certainly need a service.

You can find this Olimpico on eBay here; at the time of publishing bidding was just above $1,500. Note that I have already seen this seller offering the same Universal Geneve multiple times, so I would be cautious in your dealings – although this could also be explained by disappearing buyers.

A Light Buyer Beware: A Universal Geneve With Wrong Rehaut

Frankly, this UG looks pretty fantastic at first. This is a little bit of a harsh Buyer Beware, because the dial is super nice and the defects are almost perfectly highlighted in the listing. So, as disclosed, the unsigned crown is a service part, but the rehaut is not correct – the seller describes it as a "custom inner tachymetrè/minute track," which is a bit of a euphemism. That said, the rest looks great, from the case to the signed buckle. So this could be a great project watch if you have access to the correct rehaut to give it back its original stunning looks.

This partly incorrect UG is offered for 4,850 euros (or around $5,500) here.

Très Vite: Track Day With Baume & Mercier, And A Quartet Of New Capeland Cobra Chronographs

I could hear them long before I could see them, and then long after they’d pass, disappearing around turn one – the jackhammer of the GT350, the basso profundo of the 289 Cobra and banshee wail of the GT40. By midday, I was able to distinguish one car from the other by sound alone. And though I’m convinced that by day’s end, I’d probably doomed myself to early hearing loss, I couldn’t get myself to use the provided earplugs. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – the largest gathering of Shelby Cobra racing cars ever seen in Europe – and I wanted to take it all in, sights, sounds, and smells.

The event was called “Shelby Only,” organized by Baume & Mercier to celebrate its partnership with Carroll Shelby International and introduce a group of four special limited edition watches. The meeting place was the Circuit Paul Ricard, a twisty 5.8 kilometer race track on a mountain plateau an hour from Marseille in the south of France. Baume & Mercier had reserved this legendary circuit – for many years, the home of the French Grand Prix – for a private day of speed, and invited members of the European Shelby Cobra owners group to bring their priceless original cars. The only catch was, they had to allow 60 watch journalists and retailers to ride shotgun for hot laps around the track.

I’ve been upside down in a fighter jet over the Alps and dived with tiger sharks, but neither compared to the exhilarating terror of doing a controlled slide through a corner at triple-digit speed in a car that was built while Lyndon Johnson was president. My ride was in a black open top Shelby Cobra with the 289 cubic inch Ford V8 under the hood. This was the first of the legendary cars Carroll Shelby built to challenge Ferrari, taking a small British roadster and stuffing a massive American engine inside.

It was disconcerting to look over at the checkerboard track curbing mere inches below the car’s door and smell the burning rubber from the tires and then glance down at a dashboard full of quaint Smiths gauges and a massive wooden steering wheel. Equally disconcerting was the sight of my driver, a quiet Frenchman, wearing a full fireproof Nomex suit and neck protection, while I sat starboard in my windbreaker and ill-fitting helmet; only the driver’s side had a steel roll hoop while my head jutted inches above the top of the windscreen. But by lap two, I set my fears aside and put my trust in the driver as he stood on the gas on the 1.8 kilometer Mistral Straight, where the V8 howled and the speedometer bounced in the neighborhood of 190 kph. After we pulled back into the pit lane, I had sore abdominals and a smile pasted to my face for the rest of the day.

While the stars of the day were the cars, we were also in France to see some watches. Since the beginning of 2015, Baume & Mercier has had a partnership with Carroll Shelby, and they’ve released a special edition watch at each of the past two Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH). Both have been chronographs from their Capeland collection. The first commemorated 1965, the first year Carroll Shelby won the FIA world championship as a manufacturer. The watch had the Capeland’s vintage looks with some subtle cues that tied it to Shelby – a blue dial with red accents, a stylized Cobra logo for the sweep seconds counterweight, and Carroll Shelby’s signature etched into the sapphire case back. The watch was limited to 1,965 pieces.

This past January, Baume showed off the second piece, which celebrates a particular car, the chassis number CSX2128, which won nine races between 1963 and ’65, starting with the 12 Hours of Sebring. Similar to the previous edition in most respects, this watch opts for a black and yellow color scheme reminiscent of the car to which it pays tribute, and has a number 15 etched on the case back, a reference to the car’s racing number. A “Competition” version is available with an ADLC black case band and rubber strap. It is limited to 1,963 pieces.

“I got to spend time with the cars and the engines,” explained Alexandre Peraldi, Baume’s longtime chief of design, about his creative process when conceiving these watches. “I was inspired by the feel of the parts, the smell of the oil, and the little accents that are translated to the watch.”

Peraldi is an old school designer who employs some new school technology. While he prefers hand sketching initial designs, prototypes are 3D-printed in plastic to get proportions and “wrist feel” right. He didn’t come from a watchmaking background, but rather studied product and furniture design in Paris before going to work for Cartier. Since moving to Baume & Mercier in the early 2000s, he has had a winning track record, being responsible for most of the brand’s current lineup, particularly the Capeland and Clifton, watch families that riff heavily on Baume’s ample archive of historic watches for inspiration. “Before you can play jazz, you have to learn to play classical,” Peraldi says. “At Cartier, I learned classical, and now I’m playing jazz.”

Getting car-inspired watches right is a tricky proposition and history is littered with near misses and outright tasteless examples. But to Peraldi’s credit, the Cobra Capelands are downright subtle in my opinion. Baume leans on nostalgia in many of its watches and the Capeland is no exception, with its pump pushers, stylized Arabic numerals and domed crystal. The Cobra editions don’t have glaring logos on the dial or tire tread straps; rather, the subtle matte racing stripes on the dial are hardly noticeable and the use of color – black, yellow, and a thin arc of green, separate the latest Cobra edition from the standard Capelands.

Baume & Mercier is a proud practitioner of the traditional etablissage method of watchmaking, whereby it handles all design, assembly, and quality control but sources all components from companies that specialize. While many brands are coy about the origins of their cases, dials and movements, Baume is upfront about it and proud to say all its watches are 100% Swiss made, inside and out. For example, the Cobra Capeland’s case comes from Louis Lang SA in Porrentruy, dials are from Le Locle-based Montremo, hands are from Fiedler in Carouge, and the Valjoux movements are from ETA.

In a way, Carroll Shelby was an automotive proponent of etablissage. His earliest cars were a mashup of British bodies from UK-based AC and engines from Ford in Detroit. Shelby then built and tested the final product, with devastating effect, especially for Ferrari, the Italian racing juggernaut that was Shelby’s, and Ford's, nemesis for the better part of the 1960s. I asked Baume’s CEO, Alain Zimmermann, if this philosophical similarity was what inspired the partnership. He admits that, like many Europeans, he didn’t know the story of Carroll Shelby.

“The more I learned, I realized that it was a good fit for Baume & Mercier because we share the same values," he says, "and I wanted to tell their story.” A Baume ad campaign shot by photographer Peter Lindbergh a few years ago depicted a man driving a vintage roadster and it evoked an emotional response that made Zimmermann want to pursue that feeling further, which ultimately led to Shelby.

“To be honest, with so many brands having collaborations with cars, we asked ourselves, ‘Is it worth it?’” Zimmermann says. “If we do it, it has to be different and surprising, and more than just a licensing agreement.”

There’s no limitation to the partnership and Zimmermann gave no clues as to the future of the collaboration. I asked whether there were plans to build watches that line up with Carroll Shelby’s more modern vehicles, like the modified Mustangs and Ford pickup trucks that come out of its Las Vegas factory, perhaps one that highlights the innovations of modern car-making, such as a carbon fiber case?

“If we do this, it would be more of a talking piece, but Baume & Mercier is more about making affordable watches,” he replied. “I believe that it’s not necessarily high performance to make a watch with carbon fiber just to prove you can do it, because we can, but to make a good quality watch with an emotional connection, that is affordable.”

Our interview over, I wandered back down to the pit lane. Any thoughts of affordability were immediately vaporized by the sight of three Ford GT40 race cars sitting next to each other in the sun, and one of only six Shelby Daytona coupes ever built crouching in the corner of a garage. By even a conservative estimate, there were upwards of $30 million in automobiles on Circuit Paul Ricard that day. The car owners included many of Europe’s wealthy elite, some of whom flew in for the day, landing at the small airstrip that runs right down the infield of the race track. The people watching was nearly as good as the car watching – graying aristocrats in racing jumpsuits rubbing shoulders with journalists and retailers from the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the Americas – all brought together by a love for the smell of gasoline and burning rubber.

Near the end of the day, Alain Zimmermann gathered this diverse group on the terrace above the track and announced the release of four extremely limited edition watches. The Capeland Cobra “Legendary Drivers” chronographs are each dedicated to a famous Shelby race team driver from the 1960s – Ken Miles, David MacDonald, Dan Gurney, and Allen Grant, the latter of whom was present at the track. Each of the four watches is different, taking cues from the driver to whom it is dedicated, with his race number on the dial, different color schemes and straps. Only 15 of each will be made, to be released in October, and priced at $4,850.

As the day drew to a close and an evening chill settled on the track, cars were pushed into waiting trailers at the paddock, journalists packed up cameras, and owners’ private jets idled on the runway. As I turned to walk to our waiting bus for the ride back to Marseille, I heard a rising scream from out on the track. A lone driver clearly wanted one more lap before packing it in. It got louder and even without looking, my practiced, if partially deaf, ear told me it was a Ford GT40 winding it out as it entered the home straight. Sure enough, the sleek monster that Carroll Shelby made into a Ferrari killer, came into view and flashed past. I craned my neck over the rail to watch it as it disappeared into the setting sun.

Find out all about the world of Capeland Shelby Cobra Chronographs at Baume & Mercier.

Hands-On: An Astonishing Collection Of Vintage Bulgari Ladies' Watches For Sale In Downtown NYC

Bvlgari is a word most often associated with jewelry, snakes, and the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater. But what some of you might not know is that Bvlgari has, for many years, made (and continues to make) one of the most iconic vintage ladies’ watches in history – the Tubogas.

You are likely familiar with the Serpenti watches that are also currently in production (see my review of last year’s here). The Serpenti and Tubogas go hand in hand, as the first record of the Tubogas watch is from the 1940s, when the Italian jeweler released a serpent-form wristwatch that coiled around the wrist, with the movement concealed in the head of the snake. The tubular design soon became one of Bvlgari’s most iconic designs ever produced. Today Bvlgari still makes both Serpenti and Tubogas watches (the latter as "Serpenti Tubogas").

The Tubogas design was inspired by the production of flexible gas tubing used in the 1920s and automotive exhaust pipes – just another example of how watches and cars are forever linked to one another. The structure of the Tubogas is created by first making a coiled form out of copper or wood, and then tightly wrapping interlocking gold strips around the mould so that no soldering is required in the process. After the entire piece is constructed, the interior form is either melted with acid or pulled out, leaving a perfectly formed coil that is incredibly resilient and strong.

For the movements, Bvlgari turned to great makers like Audemars Piguet, Piaget, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Vacheron Constantin. These watches enjoyed their greatest popularity in the 1950s and continued to be made through the 1970s. Each watch head was different, depending on the decade, and varied from round to oval, octagonal, or square. These watches were produced in very small batches and it is not uncommon to stumble across a unique combination (such as the Jaeger-LeCoultre brick-shaped, link-bracelet version you see here).

The Tubogas watches you see here are in partnership with Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre. All feature double signatures on the dial, Bvlgari and VC or JLC stamps, and are manual-winding movements (hallelujah!). In fact, Vacheron Constantin provided movements to Bvlgari starting in the 1930s for their other watches in production. The small calibers vary from watch to watch but the message is the same – these are real timepieces made of high-quality materials, with equally respectable movements. The thing that is also so nice about these pieces is the way they fit. The bracelet is flexible (basically, it's a spring) and therefore can fit wrists of all shapes and sizes – not to mention the indestructible feeling of the interlocking gold tubes.

It is refreshing to come across such understated and well made manual-winding wristwatches, unlike some of the ladies pieces in production today. These vintage pieces are not only attractive, but are also functional, with significant historical importance. I truly find it heartbreaking that so many brands today do not reference their archives more, or utilize manually-winding movement of the same quality as their men's pieces. I have often heard brands say, "Women don't like to wind their watches everyday," which is simply not true and sounds like a lazy excuse to make (or buy) cheap quartz movements, throw them into a diamond-encrusted thing called a "watch" and sell them for the same amount (if not more than) a Patek Philippe minute repeater. I call bullsh*t.

If anything, these vintage pieces call attention to the amount of detail that went into creating meaningful ladies timepieces that seems to be lost in much of the modern watch market today.

These pieces are currently available, along with several other models, through the New York City vintage clothing store and site Resurrection. I have watched the Tubogas wristwatches increase in value over the years and they seem to continue to go up – and it is unusual to see a collection of these together and in so many different variations.

To see the whole collection of these pieces click here.