Lot 237 - Piaget Manchette with Lapis Lazuli dial
The 1970s was an era of extravagant and boundless design, during which Yves Piaget created timepieces and pieces of jewelry worn by the most glamorous women, including Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy, Sophia Loren and Ursula Andress to name just a few, but also successfully combined the two in the now iconic “Slave” cuffs these women adored to wear. The present openworked bangle watch embodies Piaget’s renowned savoir-faire: it is because of the small and ultra-thin manually wound caliber 9P that a hard stone – in this case, as it is so often with Piaget, a superb piece of Lapis Lazuli - can be used to create a refined bracelet watch. The textured gold decoration on the cuff gives a frozen and sparkling look to the bracelet that I love and I would definitely enjoy wearing this one out for a special evening! - by Virginie Liatard-Roessli
Specialist, Head of Sale
Lot 127 - Urwerk UR-103 in pink gold
My first encounter with Urwerk was in the early 2000s. I was fascinated by their modern and quirky time displays but I had never tried one on. However, in 2005 I was having dinner with Max Büsser, the then CEO of Harry Winston, very shortly after the launch of the Opus V in collaboration with Felix Baumgartner, and he was wearing an Urwerk UR-103.3 on his wrist. I immediately ripped it off his arm and wore it during the dinner. I was hooked and soon bought one in pink gold, just like the present watch. Therefore, my pick is a very personal one, it takes me back 15 years, to when this watch first surprised me. An amateur of vintage watches up until then, it questioned my whole approach to watches, due to the surprising (yet extremely wearable) case design, time display and overall out-of-the-box thinking. And 15 years later Urwerk’s watchmaking is as relevant, if not more - by Alexandre Ghotbi, Head of Watches, Continental Europe and the Middle East
Lot 119 - Rolex chronograph reference 4062 in stainless steel and pink gold
This incredibly rare watch features a number of details that make it unique and desirable. Firstly, it features a pulsations scale, which is very much sought-after by collectors today. Despite it being over seventy years of age, there is barely any aging on the dial. Its overall state of preservation is also impressive - the "coin-edge" of the watch is crisp and sharp - attesting that the watch has barely seen any wear throughout its lifetime - by Tiffany To, Specialist
Lot 199 - Breguet N°3229 wristwatch in yellow gold
I may be getting a little old fashioned, but the present 18k yellow gold, 34mm, vintage Breguet wristwatch is everything I love about collectible watches. It’s rare, and I mean REALLY rare, it has a custom gold dial, made by Breguet for the watch’s owner in 1970, and its story is fully documented by the brand – as all of its timepieces are – inside an original, paper-bound book located in the Museum’s archives. Thanks to the watch’s unique serial number, which is found on either side of the caseback and on its movement, we know that the watch was sold in Paris on September 6, 1962 for the sum of 1,600 Francs. If only you could walk into a boutique and acquire a watch of this quality for the same price today - by Arthur Touchot, Head of Digital and Secialist
Lot 258 - Rolex Datejust Ref 1601 in pink gold
First, pink gold naturally draws in the eye, even if unexpectedly so. Then, the elegance of the satin black dial, logically organized by these tapered and gilded hands and hour markers, commands respect. This legendary crenellated decoration, revisiting dozens of facets of our environment, can evoke the levels and set of steps of Maurits Cornelis Escher. The textured and brushed appearance of the lugs provides aesthetic protection by capturing shades of light. Then, the perfectly polished and curved flanks of the case flatter the touch, when instinctively repositioning your watch on your wrist. This discreetly-sized wristwatch, combining various textures, noble materials and the legendary reputation of Rolex is a real gem of style and history. Without any shame in sounding anachronistic (startling when speaking of a watch, isn’t it), this work of art would deserve its place on the wrist of a character such as Oscar Wilde, for example. Or why not on mine, in all humility, of course! - by Jess Hoffman, Photographer of The Geneva Watch Auction X catalogue