Posts by Erik Gustafson
4537 Rolex Chronograph
Meet the Daytona’s rather handsome grandfather. Before the Daytona were series of chronograph references called Pre-Daytona: 6032, 6034, 6232, 6234, and 6238. Before the Pre-Daytona things get really complicated. This is from just before the 6032, the very end of Pre-Pre-Daytona. Did that make any sense? What you’re looking at is a ref. 4537, the…
Read More‘Bart Simpson’ 5512 Rolex Submariner
Much like the 6263 and 6265 are the last of the manual Daytonas, this thing is in many ways the end of an era. This is a Bart Simpson 5512, a not super sexy nickname for what is a very sexy Submariner. Thanks to Rolex putting out numbers for once, the collecting world only recently learned…
Read MoreSpace EVA-Worn Omega Speedmaster from Gennady Padalka
This is a Speedmaster from 2015, just like any other. Except it was worn on a real-world spacewalk, this very example. This might actually be the best-documented space or EVA-worn Speedmaster in the world, and it’s coming up for sale (with the actual spacesuit glove, just in case it gets cold out). It was worn…
Read MoreHinged Caseback Chopard LUC 16/1860/1
This is a rare bird, even though at first glance it appears to be your average 16/1860. This is a first edition 16/1860/1, but the first of the first. It’s not often discussed, but the first 100 examples of the 16/1860, regardless of case metal, were made numbered in series with a hinged or ‘hunter’…
Read More3508 IWC Ingenieur 500K A/m, Bimetal
The mid-sized Ingenieur is one of the great undersold integrated bracelet designs of the last half century, but that’s starting to turn. In today’s climate, things can only remain enthusiast favorites for so long before others catch on. This is the 3508, a triumph of engineering able to withstand 500K A/m, something not even modern…
Read More‘Hampton Court’ 405.047 A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Up/Down
405.047 is reference not likely to ring any bells, and that’s because it’s a piece unique. Lange have a long tradition of sponsoring automotive Concours, specifically Villa d’Este. They don’t necessarily indulge in one-offs often, which makes what we’re about to cover rather unique. The Lange-Concourso d’Eleganza partnership makes sense, and not just because Lange…
Read More‘Small Floating’ Dial 6240 Rolex Daytona
This was the start of the legendary screwdown Daytona pusher. Okay, maybe not the very start, it’s not a Solo, but reference-wise with millerighes (more on that later). This is the ref. 6240 and it would not be a stretch to say that all screw-down Daytonas exist because of this reference’s lineage. Two years after the…
Read MoreOman 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…
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