Featuring watches coming up in the Fine Jewellery, Watches & Silver Sale, 16th November 2024
The watchmaking industry evolved over centuries; however, it was not until the start of the 20th century that wristwatches replaced pocket watches as the timepiece of choice for the masses. The seeds of the industry were sown in the 19th century, with the creation of wrist-worn watches for aristocracy and royalty, usually ladies; early known examples included a wristwatch created in 1810 for Queen Caroline Murat of Naples by Abraham-Louis Breguet, and a bracelet watch made in 1868 by the legendary Patek Philippe for Countess Koscowicz of Hungary.
In the early 20th century, the watchmaking industry started to firmly establish itself, spurred on by the popularity of wristwatches amongst soldiers in the First World War. A wrist-worn watch allowed them to tell the time easily whilst carrying out their duties, and thus the trench watch was born.
By the 1920s and 1930s, the design-focused Art Deco era, the wristwatch was not just there to tell the time, but a fashionable accessory to wear. One of the classic watches of the period was the Rolex Prince, launched in 1929; it featured the stylish flared sides known as the Brancard style, after the French word for ‘stretcher’ which it resembled.
Rolex: A Good 18 Carat Two Colour Gold Flared Rectangular Wristwatch, signed Rolex, Chronometer, model: Prince Brancard, ref: 971, 1930s
Estimate: £4,000-5,000 plus buyer's premium
The leading watch companies continued to develop numerous different watch features throughout the 20th century. In 1954 Rolex introduced the iconic GMT Master model, having been approached by Pan American Airways to design a watch that its pilots could use on long haul flights to track dual time zones. The design was ingenious, allowing the wearer to record a secondary time zone by rotating the 24-hour scale bezel and reading the corresponding time with the 24-hour hand. For pilots, the secondary time zone would stand for Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The most popular bezels amongst collectors are the so-called ‘Pepsi’ colourway of red (for daylight hours) and blue (for night time hours).
Rolex: A Good Stainless Steel Automatic Calendar Centre Seconds Dual Time Zone "Pepsi" Bezel Wristwatch, signed Rolex, Oyster Perpetual, Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified, model: GMT Master, ref: 1675, 1966
Estimate: £7,000-8,000 plus buyer’s premium
In 1961, Jack Heuer, fourth-generation head of the eponymous watch company, introduced the Heuer Autavia, the first chronograph the Swiss company made. Chronographs are watches with the ability to record intervals of time. Launching the Autavia in 1962, it instantly gained icon status amongst Formula 1 drivers. Heuer had some of the greatest F1 drivers as ambassadors during the 1960s and 1970s, with the likes of Jo Siffert, Jochen Rindt and Mario Andretti wearing their watch. The Autavia is easily spotted on a collector’s wrist, with the distinctive black and white sub dials, rotating bezels and the model came in different variants.
Heuer: A Good Stainless Steel Calendar Chronograph Wristwatch, signed Heuer, model: Autavia "30 Dato", ref: 7863, circa 1968
Estimate: £2,500-3,000 plus buyer’s premium
A timeless classic admired by watch collectors, and a fashionable watch to wear is the Breguet Moonphase display wristwatch, which the company first introduced in 2002. The dial layout and design make a very elegant watch. The example coming up for sale this November, features the moonphase aperture for the lunar phase of 29 ½ days, date dial and unusual 50-hour power reserve dial display. This is one of my favourite watches in the sale, and always highly collectable for watch enthusiasts.
Breguet: A Good 18 Carat Gold Automatic Calendar Power Reserve Moonphase Wristwatch, signed Breguet, No.2117A, model: Classique Power Reserve Moonphase, ref: 2117A, 2000's
Estimate: £5,000-7,000 plus buyer’s premium
