At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the world's top auction houses placed their bets on online bidding, and they hit the jackpot.
Experimenting with a new virtual format has been an enormous success. The conservative Sotheby's Auction House launched its first "Watches Weekly" online auction on April 1, which attracted new buyers and achieved strong price performance indicators. The first weekly auctions in April attracted vintage watch collectors, 54% of whom were either new to Sotheby's or new to the watch department, and 40% of the participants were under 40.
It is unclear whether the change in the demographic profile of bidders affected the price of lots sold, but the results were satisfactory. The first record was set for a watch sold in an online auction — a brand new Patek Philippe Nautilus, ref. 5711, went under the hammer for USD 484,000.
The advantages of this new format remained apparent, even after most countries had already lifted their strict lockdown measures at the end of July. The eyes of rare watch collectors were glued to their computer screens. This online bidding achieved a new record sale. This time, the Rolex Daytona JPS ref. 6264 was the record-breaker, which went for 1.5 million US dollars.
The highest bidder won a legendary retro watch with a whole host of rare characteristics. First of all, there is only five known Paul Newman Daytona ref. 6264 wristwatches with the yellow gold John Player Special color scheme in existence. It was nicknamed "John Player Special" in reference to the livery on the Lotus competing in Formula 1, sponsored by tobacco brand John Player Special. The black cigarette packs had a gold JPS logo. Secondly, a gold case is a rarity in and of itself. While most Daytona cases with different reference numbers were produced in stainless steel, only a few pieces were made in yellow gold.
A yellow gold 6264 is a real rarity, of which experts have counted only ten examples
The Rolex Daytona JPS ref. 6264 not only holds the record for the highest single-lot online sale. The ref. 6264 was sold at Sotheby's in England, becoming the most expensive wristwatch sold at auction in the UK, and the costliest Daytona JPS model.