PREVIEW: WATCHES: 26 MARCH

This auction presents one of the strongest catalogues Noonans’ Watches department has created, with world-beating timepieces from the top luxury brands, including Patek Philippe, Rolex, Cartier, IWC, Audemars Piguet and Breitling, to name just a few.

Breitling is particularly well represented, with a string of highlights led by a c.2010 gold and diamond-set tourbillion chronograph wristwatch with mother-of-pearl dial. Created during the two-decade partnership between Breitling and the luxury British car manufacturer, which began in 2002 when Bentley and Breitling joined forces to design the on board clock for the first ever Bentley Continental GT, £30,000-50,000.

A limited edition gold and diamond-set automatic chronograph wristwatch with mother-of-pearl dial and date is another Breitling for Bentley creation, this one dating to c.2011. The 6.75, as it is known,
was launched in 2004 and named after Bentley’s esteemed 6.75-litre engines which can be found in the L-series V8. All the timepieces in the collection are driven by Breitling’s high performance chronometer movements and are COSC certified. The watches also pay tribute to the luxury Bentley models with the case back stamped in relief with a Bentley wheel rim. This example is guided at £24,000-30,000.

A pink gold and diamond-set rectangular Breitling wristwatch with jumping hours – the Flying B – dates to c.2010. It was named after the ‘Winged B’ emblem of Bentley which represents the exhilaration of motion and harks back to Bentley’s background in designing fighter plane engines during the World War I. It carries hopes of £20,000-30,000.

Another Breitling for Bentley watch from c.2010, the limited edition gold automatic perpetual calendar Mulliner chronograph wristwatch with moon-phases, it reflects another significant partnership, that of Bentley and the famous coach builder, Mulliner. It is expected to fetch £8,000-12,000.

A highlight of the designs from Rolex is a c.2007 lady’s gold and diamond-set Pearlmaster automatic wristwatch with mother-of-pearl dial, date and bracelet. Rolex launched the Pearlmaster Masterpiece series in 1992, the same year in which it introduced the original Yacht-Master. 
At the heart of the watch is the classic Lady-Datejust model; adding to its allure, however, is its exclusively 18ct yellow gold, white gold and Everose case adorned with multiple flawless diamonds. It has a guide of £20,000-30,000.

“These timepieces are beautiful examples of the craftmanship of the watchmaker and the art of the jeweller coming together to create exclusive, elegant models for women,” says Noonans Watch specialist Joanne Lewis.

From Patek Philippe comes a rare gold twenty dollar coin watch dating to 1974. Coin watches were first produced in the 1920s. These rare ultra-thin timepieces are made of two actual coins to construct the outer case. Prestigious brands such as, Cartier, Patek Philippe, Piaget, Corum and Vacheron Constantin have produced examples of these interesting, collectable, novelty timepieces over the years. The extract from the archives confirms the date of manufacture of 1974 for this example and a date of sale of October 16th, 1979. The estimate is £14,000-18,000.

The Tank is arguably Cartier’s most distinctive and instantly recognisable design. A c.2006 gold rectangular dual dial time zone Tank A Vis wristwatch, from the Collection Privée Cartier Paris, launched in 1998, it features the Tank’s signature enlarged yet elegant rectangular case and a finely decorated manual winding movement. It should sell for £7,000-10,000.

Cartier are thought to have been the first to produce the novelty coin timepiece in the 1920s. A wonderful example of this type was using a 1893 gold five pound coin depicting Queen Victoria and St. George was made by Cartier for the Duchess of Windsor in 1940. The Cartier / Bueche-Girod rare Charles II five Guinea gold coin watch offered here dates to c.1962 and has an estimate of £4,000-6,000.

A c.2008 Portuguese limited edition gold regulator wristwatch by IWC is number 10 of a limited series of 50 examples made in gold for Wempe, the international watch and jewellery retailer established by Gerhard Diedrich Wempe in Germany in 1857. The original regulator clocks, invented in the mid-18th century, were weight-driven with deadbeat escapements. Designed to achieve a high level of accuracy, they were used for astronomical observations and for regulating other timepieces. The estimate here is £5,000-7,000.

A gold semi-skeletonised wristwatch with satellite hour display from Audemars Piguet, the Star Wheel dates to c.1995 and is expected to fetch £10,000-15,000.

Founded in 1995, Roger Dubuis is a much more recently established brand but no less luxurious and dedicated to fine traditional craftsmanship, albeit with a twist of contemporary cutting edge design. Here an oversized square titanium skeletonised tourbillon wristwatch from The Golden Square collection, dating to c.2010, displays a striking intricate skeletonised dial that gives an unobstructed view of the mesmerizing tourbillon mechanism. The tourbillon mechanism is designed to counteract the effects of gravity on the watch’s accuracy by rotating the escapement and balance wheel. The estimate is £12,000-18,000.