Breaking News – Phillips Sells Paul Newman’s Paul Newman Daytona for $17,752,500, Being The Most Expensive Wristwatch Ever Auctioned
This is it… This is the big one. The watch that the entire collecting community was expecting to see surfacing one day went under the hammer. This watch, as auctioneer Aurel Bacs explained to us in this video interview, is not only a celebrity’s watch; it represents much more than that. It’s the very watch that created an icon (the Paul Newman Daytona), the very watch that is, in fact, the reason why collecting steel sports watches is now so high. Well, it’s official, Paul Newman’s Paul Newman Daytona has been sold a few minutes ago, for a record price of over 17.7 Million, making it the most expensive wristwatch ever auctioned (and that’s with buyer’s premium).
If, like us, you are madly into watches, then you’ve had today’s date marked in your calendar for the past few months. Yes, the 26th of October is the day (in America) that Phillips auction off Paul Newman’s actual Paul Newman Daytona. And given how crazy the hype is, we know that mere mortals like you and I aren’t anywhere close to even think about bidding on it. But that hasn’t stopped me wondering who will sign that winning cheque, with many experts speculating that the attraction of this watch extends far beyond that of your top tier watch collectors, given Paul Newman’s universal appeal. This is potentially not just the most expensive Rolex ever sold, but the most expensive wrist watch, ever. To most, the thought of dropping seven or eight figures on a watch is not only completely absurd, but financially impossible – but to a small percentile, it’s a drop in the ocean. For example, assume the hammer drops at say $10 million USD, to someone worth 300 million – you’re talking three per cent of their net worth. Doable. But why do we think a celebrity buyer is in the running? Well, given the publicity this watch auction has…