Weekend Reading: A Collector Re-Examines The Platinum 3428 Full Set That Sold Ten Years Ago, Imagines How The Market Would Respond Today
From 2005 to 2008 or so, so many incredible watches were sold publicly without much fanfare at all. This was the pre-HODINKEE days, pre-Instagram, pre-anything, really. The few watch magazines and sites that were around barely made mention of any vintage watches and because of that, many of us have forgotten these incredible piece. But just because the #internet wasn’t paying attention to the auction world, it doesn’t mean there wasn’t a small but dedicated set of collectors keeping a close eye – and because of it, some of the results from that period of time are still record holders to this day. One such example is lot number 83 in the Christie’s November 2007 sale – a platinum Patek Philippe Calatrava with enamel dial. It’s a reference 3428, a piece that few know much about, and just recently, the great collector-focused site Le Monde Edmond brought this watch to the foreground.
Editor’s note: Whether they know it or not, anyone in a highly visible profession is likely to have their wristwear critiqued by a cadre of hardcore watch geeks. Politicans, actors and athletes are all fair game. Today in a special guest post, Paxton Wong casts his ever-watchful eye over the watch choices of some of the world’s best tennis players, just as the Australian Open heats up in week two. They say tennis is all in the wrist. Perhaps here is where the secret lies? Looking a little closer, players appear to be balancing the weight of the racquet in hand with a timepiece on the other wrist. Should make sense – right? Back in the day it was fashionable for a tennis player to wear a watch on court. Tennis was a gentleman’s game. Funnily enough, John McEnroe was associated with Omega’s titanium watches at a time. Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg wore Ebel, and they wore them when they played. Boris even wore a TAG Heuer Kirium, though these days he’s more often seen wearing IWC and the Cartier Calibre de Cartier Diver. For whatever reason, there’s always been a close relationship between watches and tennis. Perhaps it’s…
There’s a case for letting the dust settle before you start writing lists after a watch fair. You know, the fullness of time, emotions recollected in tranquility, all that. Or, you could just ride the wave of enthusiasm/delirium while it’s still surging and put it out there, on the spot, from the ‘backstage area’ of one of the booths. Which is precisely what we did on the final day of SIHH 2017 after some frantic notebook scribbling and hurried discussion. We ended up not agreeing enough to do a team list just yet (after all, we’re different people). So we stuck to five each. We’re quite sure that when we get home and start poring over all the photos and videos with fresh eyes that things will change. But until then, these are some piping hot croissants, fresh from the SIHH oven. And boy, are the watches (and our photographer Marcus’ shots of them) toasty. Enjoy with a cup of coffee.