Posts by Erik Gustafson
Oman Khanjar, Burgundy Lacquer Dial Cartier Santos Carrée
Yes, that’s a khanjar at 6 on a burgundy lacquer dial Carrée. There can be no doubt, this is the most exceptional Cartier we’ve seen surface in the market this year. If you could summarize the Oman in the 1980s in one watch, this has to be it. We’re used to seeing khanjars on Rolex…
Read MoreRomain Gauthier Logical One, Titanium
Pause a moment and just contemplate the insanity here. The fusée and chain is surely the most spectacular way possible to deliver a constant force from the mainspring. A fusée and chain made of a snail cam with a chain of individual rubies used as roller bearings is, well, madness. As if that weren’t enough,…
Read More‘Lemon Paul Newman’ 6264 Rolex Daytona
Lemon normally describes a defect, yet in Paul Newmans it’s anything but, it’s seven figures to start. The 6262 and 6264 will be known to collectors as the transition reference Daytonas; either is relatively uncommon in its own right. The pair of Cosmographs introduced the Valjoux 727 and its higher beat rate, the last of…
Read More‘Type 7’ Dial 3700 Patek Philippe Nautilus
The greatest green dial Nautilus that’s ever been made didn’t start life that way. It wasn’t made in 2021. It wasn’t even made on purpose. Some of the most painstakingly excellent scholarship of the last decade was made by a collector and anonymous superhero who goes by ‘Mstanga’ on forums. Mr. Stanga studied all 3700 dial…
Read MoreFP Journe Vagabondage II, Platinum
No one remembers who comes in second. That was the fundamental problem facing FP Journe’s first attempts at the digital time display, the Vagabondage series, in the wake of the Zeitwerk. However, by third go, FP Journe’s manic obsession had yielded his own first, running digital seconds. Despite that massive and somewhat insane accomplishment, it…
Read More43031 Vacheron Constantin Perpetual Calendar, Platinum
The 43031 is a QP made for posterity to enjoy. Shortly after the 5548, Vacheron brought back their take on the ultra-thin 920 QP, distinctly quirky and slightly more expressive than the AP. To be certain, it was not appreciated properly in period. Between AP’s 5548 and Patek’s 3940, the 43031 sold far, far fewer…
Read More‘Port Royal’ 95.0100.418 Zenith El Primero Calendar Chronograph, Titanium
This might be the most substantive 1980s integrated bracelet watch to not be famous whatsoever. It is a triple calendar with moonphase, just to start. It is a chronograph, based on the high-beat calibre 3019 (you know, the calibre that saved Zenith and, arguably, the first automatic chronograph?). It is, most importantly, a wildly lovely…
Read MoreFP Journe Repetition Souverain
It’s been so long that almost everyone has forgotten, but in 2008 this Repetition Souverain was a world first. Or perhaps, as it predates almost all watch media, it’s been forgotten. In any regard, this was at one point the world’s thinnest minute repeater. FP Journe likes sketching new things into existence. In 2008, he…
Read More‘Art Deco’ Piece Unique Voutilainen Vingt-8
I don’t know what to say here except that this is a pretty wild thing. This is the ‘Art Deco’, a piece unique Voutilainen based on the 28SC SB, the first Vingt-8 to feature centre seconds. But this Art Deco has a lug we haven’t seen before or after, which looks like it belongs permanently…
Read MoreTurquoise Stella Dial 18038 Rolex Day-Date
Thankfully, this 18038 dial has nothing to do with Tiffany, it’s just a great color. While we all love a colorful OP, vintage Rolex did it first and did it better. Stella dials have been collected since they were introduced in the early 1970s, however only very hotly in the last decade, coinciding with the…
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