There was no question that Phillips' final one-hour 2020 auction would be nothing short of legendary.

 

The line-up of high-class lots prepared by the auction house experts was almost too good to be true, with watches once owned by stars at the auction led by Aurel Bacs, a true pro when it comes to hunting down masterpieces. The sales total raked in by the New York auction speaks for itself: USD 27 584 570. The breakdown of individual lots sold is much more interesting.

 

The most expensive lot was the Rolex “Big Red” Daytona Ref. 6263, which went for USD 5 475 000. The iconic model once owned by actor Paul Newman became the third-most expensive Rolex ever sold at auction. Even though a serious amount of money was raised, you could have expected the model to have sold for more.

 

Still fresh in our minds is the sale of another watch once owned by the actor and racer — the Rolex Cosmograph Paul Newman Daytona Ref. 6239 — which was also sold by Phillips back in 2017 for USD 17 752 500.

 

Rolex “Big Red” Daytona Ref. 6263
Rolex “Big Red” Daytona Ref. 6263
Rolex “Big Red” Daytona Ref. 6263
Rolex “Big Red” Daytona Ref. 6263

These two watches share a lot of similarities. Both models were gifts from Newman's wife and actress Joanne Woodward. The caseback is engraved with the message: "Drive carefully, Me." and the Ref. 6263 has the message: Drive Slowly, Joanne. The actor's wife was worried about him after he was involved in a motorcycle accident in 1965, which she expressed with her first present (Ref. 6239) and the second (Ref. 6263).

 

A new record was actually set in New York, but it wasn't set by a Rolex. It was set by the Heuer Monaco watch that Steve McQueen wore when the film Le Mans was being shot. The model which the actor gave to his personal mechanic as a gift was sold for 2.2 million.  This is a truly historic record for TAG Heuer!

 

Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Heuer Monaco
Heuer Monaco

You'd think that a selection of two lots with models once owned by stars and backgrounds that makes them iconic would be enough for one auction. Well, not for Aurel Bacs. The bonus of the December auction was Sylvester Stallone's personal collection of five watches.

 

The action-movie hero and collector known for his love of Panerai gave models from his personal collection to new owners, some of which have shone on the silver screen: the Panerai PAM5218-201/a from the 1996 film Daylight plus four Richard Mille watches.

 

The Panerai sold for USD 214 200, and the most expensive lot out of all the tonneau-shaped Richard Mille releases was the Richard Mille RM052-01 Tourbillon Skull TZP Nano-Ceramic, which went under the hammer for USD 998 000.

 

Panerai PAM5218-201/a
Panerai PAM5218-201/a
Richard Mille RM052-01 Tourbillon Skull TZP Nano-Ceramic
Richard Mille RM052-01 Tourbillon Skull TZP Nano-Ceramic

Rolex, Heuer and Richard Mille are all famous names, but there couldn't be an auction with buyers bidding for lots from 60 countries without Patek Philippe. The Ref. 3974G minute repeater and perpetual calendar, one of only 5 known pieces, vaulted over the million mark and was sold for USD 1,022,200.

 

Patek Philippe Ref. 3974G
Patek Philippe Ref. 3974G
Patek Philippe Ref. 3974G
Patek Philippe Ref. 3974G

The bottom line is that models which are of real interest can achieve seriously high selling prices even in times of instability, and Philips attained an annual result of more than USD 133 million.