Three iconic vintage Rolex watches from the Collection of Hollywood Stuntman turned Race Car Driver Stan Barrett

The Collection of Stan Barrett

The history of watchmaking is populated with extraordinary character’s, from Abraham-Louis Breguet, Hans Wilsdorf through Antoni Patek and Adrien Philippe. Today, whilst the industry is dominated by the famous brands these gentlemen founded, a new breed of watchmakers are also coming to the fore. This sale demonstrates some of today’s watchmakers who are pushing the horological boundaries and making today's extraordinary timepieces by hand. The sale includes three early pieces from François-Paul Journe including a Tourbillon from his first ever years of production (No 54), Vianney Halter with his steam punk inspired Antiqua perpetual calendar and the elegant Classic, a Cabestan Vertical Tourbillon from Eric Coudray in conjunction with Jean-François Ruchonnet and Vianney Halter, the beautiful Peter Speake Marin made tourbillon and Christiaan Van Der Klaauw with his planetarium watches amongst others.

Timepieces from some of the most preeminent and respected independent watchmakers of the last 30 years

Independents

Chronographs first appeared in the Rolex catalog in 1937 with the initial single button two register pieces followed by the now familiar configuration of two buttons and three registers. It was with the introduction of the ‘Daytona’ from Rolex in 1963 that cemented the model as the most important watch in the Rolex collection. The design language of the first Daytona Ref 6239 (inverted colors for the chronograph subdial and the Tachymeter scale moved to the bezel) has endured to today’s examples, and as is often the case with Rolex, the differences between references can be almost imperceptible and often seemingly trivial, but this belies the importance of these collective improvements over time. Our current selection of beautiful Daytona’s from the manual wound era run from Ref 6239 through and 6263/6265 demonstrates this clearly with Oyster and non-Oyster examples, varying case metal types, various pusher and bezel designs, dial configuration and multiple different dial designs.

A selection of Rolex manual winding Daytonas

Manual Winding Daytonas

The Heures Universelles watches are among the most coveted of all Patek Philippe’s vintage production, and examples form the centerpiece of some of the world’s most important watch collections.

The Heures Universelles watches are among the most coveted of all Patek Philippe’s vintage production.

Reference 605 HU ‘Amérique du Nord’

Patek Philippe, Reference 605 HU ‘Amérique du Nord’

New York

Sotheby’s New York is proud to present our Important Watches sale taking place on Friday 9 December 2022. Our finely curated sale celebrates a wide variety of vintage and modern timepieces and various makers, including but not limited to Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Cartier, and F.P. Journe. As part of our December Important Watches sale, we are thrilled to include three iconic vintage Rolex watches from the Collection of Hollywood Stuntman turned Race Car Driver Stan Barrett, two of which were worn during his quest to break the land speed record in 1979 that were gifted to him by his close friend and film icon Paul Newman. Sale Number: N10956

Vice President | Head of Sale & Specialist

Leigh Safar

Senior Vice President | Chairman | International Watch Division

Daryn Schnipper

Senior Vice President | Senior Specialist | Watches Latin America

Richard Lopez

Vice President | Specialist, Watches & Clocks

Jonathon Burford

Associate Specialist

Christina Bohn

Associate Cataloguer

Daniel Tanenbaum

Auction Contacts

New York | 17 November – 16 December 2022

Sotheby’s New York is pleased to present our Important Watches sale, 9 December, 2022. Our sale is finely curated, and celebrates a wide variety of vintage and modern timepieces from all the major brands as well as selection from contemporary independent watchmakers, the majority of which are making their auction debut and come to us from private collections.