Place your bets! Which Rolex Oyster Perpetual 2020 dial colour will sell for the highest price at the Hong Kong Watch Auction later today?
This year’s Melbourne Cup is over, but now there’s an exciting new race, with the runners and riders taking horological form. That’s because this Sunday, Phillips is hosting the Hong Kong Watch Auction: XI. There’s a drool-worthy collection of pieces up for grabs, including watches from Patek Philippe, A. Lange & Söhne and many more. But there are also some eyebrow-raising inclusions with lots 813-817 dedicated to Rolex’s new range of Oyster Perpetuals in a veritable sorbet rainbow of colours. These lots stand out, not because of the eye-popping colours, but because of the fact that these stainless-steel pieces are all brand new. Rolex only revealed the collection on September 1. Yet Phillips have already deemed these OPs – which aren’t even limited – to be sufficiently valuable to be worthy of auction. We’ll get onto the broader implications of this for the watch world later. There’s no doubt the bright lacquered dials of this rejigged collection have met with predictably massive demand. The vivid hues felt like a welcome dose of feel-good energy and playful fun – sorely needed after what’s been, let’s face it, a pretty grim year. But which colour will prove to be the most popular?…
The post Place your bets! Which Rolex Oyster Perpetual 2020 dial colour will sell for the highest price at the Hong Kong Watch Auction later today? appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
Watches and aviation have long been on the same flight path, with multiple timepieces made specifically to take to the skies. Without aviation, for example, we would not have the historic Cartier Santos – named after Alberto Santos-Dumont, the pilot who requested its creation. Known for their larger cases and high degree of legibility, pilot’s watches have attracted many buyers over the years who’ve never ventured anywhere near a cockpit. But whether you’re a budding Top Gun or permanently grounded, these are the best pilot watches of 2020 under $10K. Longines Spirit 40mm blue dial on leather strap The Spirit 40 from Longines is like an album where every song is a hit – it just strikes all the right notes. At 40mm, it has a nice modern case size and is water resistant to 100m with a screw-down crown. Underneath the anti-reflective coated sapphire crystal is a highly legible and rich blue dial with a magnificent sunburst gradient texture. While some will always fret over the aesthetic of a date-window, the date disc perfectly matches the blue dial and blends harmoniously with minimal interruption. There’s 64 hours of power reserve, thanks to its reliable movement, upgraded with a silicon…
Too often in a TV drama, a character’s watch is just a random accessory lobbed in by the wardrobe department at the last minute. Yet when it’s done right, a watch can become infused with psychological depth and meaning. And when it’s done to absolute perfection it can deliver a tell-tale insight into a character’s very soul. In Gangs of London – currently screening on Stan in Australia – Sean Wallace’s Rolex Datejust is very much the latter. The British drama is essentially a bare-knuckle version of The Godfather with a cockney accent. Chaos reigns after Finn Wallace, the gangster patriarch of the ruling London clan, is gunned down in cold blood. As rival families jostle for power and struggle to protect their interests, Finn’s eldest son, Sean (Joe Cole, last seen in Peaky Blinders) is thrust into the role of top dog. Unfortunately, he’s not a natural mob boss. While determined to step up, Sean lacks the calculating head and lethal calm of a Michael Corleone. Blinded by his lust for vengeance and desperate to prove himself, he lashes out at any perceived enemies with mind-boggling savagery. The tone of the series is set by the opening scene in…