S otheby’s presents The Nevadian Collector, a historically important private collection of vintage watches to be sold in Hong Kong this April. Encompassing 40 exceptional timepieces - the vast majority Patek Philippe - the highly curated sale charts the ‘Golden Years’ of horological development from the 1940s through the 1980s. The collection is led by a pink gold reference 2499 retailed by the renowned Italian retailer Gobbi Milano (est. HK$24m – 48m/ US$3m – 6m), the only known pink gold second series featuring a retailer signature on the dial. The sale will be presented as a dedicated evening sale during the Hong Kong Spring Sales Series in late April, carrying a total estimate of HK$78m/ US$15m – the highest single owner watches sale ever offered by Sotheby’s in Asia.
A collecting career spanning over 30 years, the Nevadian collector’s unrivalled passion in vintage Patek Philippe has made him a legend within the watch community. At once encompassing over 400 pieces comprising almost every reference of the brand, he has historically favoured perpetual calendar chronographs, amassing 18 Patek Philippe reference 2499 and 15 reference 1518, at the peak of his collecting career. An active collector over the past three decades, he witnessed the growth of the market firsthand, with his distinguished collection featuring a number of record-breaking timepieces, such as the Patek Philippe reference 2499 retailed by Asprey (sold at Sotheby’s Geneva for 3.9M CHF in 2018) and the pink gold reference 2499 retailed by Tiffany & Co. (sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong for HK$23.5M in 2018) – the holding records for any 2499 and a pink 2499.
