Watch Dandy

Phillips announced its upcoming Geneva sale with big news: the presence of the elusive “Bao Dai” Rolex reference 6062 in its catalog. “Grail watch” is often thrown around, but in the case of this triple calendar Rolex the term feels completely fitting. Not only is a black dial with diamonds the rarest configuration for a 6062, but the imperial provenance of this piece further enhances its desirability. Since its sale to Bao Dai in 1954, it has only appeared at auction once, back in 2002, and it became the most expensive Rolex ever sold. It is on track to set a new record, with a low estimate above $1.5 million and a final bid expected near double that amount!

Ok, so Baselworld might still be going on (it lasts until the end of the week), but team HODINKEE is on its way back to New York and London with hard drives full of photos and heads full of ideas for stories to bring you soon. Here’s a look back at the four First Take videos we brought you live from Switzerland, offering inside looks at the collections of Rolex, Omega, Grand Seiko, and a handful of the best independent watchmakers around today.

Hot on the heels of all the Baselworld releases is something a bit different that comes from an unexpected brand – Larsson & Jennings. You may be familiar with Larsson & Jennings, a British company, for its Swiss-made quartz watches, but the brand has some big news – it’s dropping the very first mechanical wristwatches in all three of its collections, the Lugano, Norse, and Saxon, all at once.

If there’s a field of watchmaking that Bremont dominates, it’s custom pilot watches. Bremont says 20% of its customers are in the military, and the watches they wear are typically large and their dials are filled with iconography relating to the types of aircraft their squadrons fly. In fact, Giles English, one of the company’s two founders, recently told me that quite a few watches in the core collection borrow elements that first appeared during these special military projects.