Antiquorum's "Rolex Revolution" Auction

Looks like this is going to be another milestone auction for Rolex vintage watches (to be held in on Thursday, 17 April, Antiquorum NY). There is a great preview of what to expect in terms of amazing quality and completeness of pieces that will be offered, spanning the whole history of Rolex, in this link Antiquorum's "Rolex Revolution" Auction from Timezone Rolex Vintage forum by Paul Boutros. There will be also hardcover auction catalog available ($75) as well as a free online PDF file(available here for download - Warning it is HUGE!) which will cover all these pieces in detail which could be a nice reference to own. There are many spectacular and quite rare pristine examples on the auction so even if you can't compete in the auction it would a real pleasure to at least make it to the preview and be able to see them in person. Unfortunately I will not be able to make the auction as I will be returning from my SIHH/Geneva trip, but I guess it's a fair trade off. ;-)



I also consider this to be an important auction that will definitely establish where does the current market for vintage Rolex stand and where will it go from now on. It's no secret to anyone who follows the vintage market that Rolex has been the single continuously overachieving superstar breaking all records in the secondary markets in the last half of this decade. Moreover every time the market was predicted to be overly exuberant or even simply overpriced (with fears of bubble bursting announced monthly and looming continuously in the eyes of collectors) to the bewilderment of all this market insatiable and seemingly limitless demand for quality vintage Rolex is simply unstoppable. I believe that with so many new flush entrants in the vintage Rolex market (especially those with New Money from the oil rich and new market economy superstars from places like far East, Russia, etc.) these prices can be sustained due to the fairly limited supply especially when considering that with the passage of time the relative lack of supply (I even dare say rarity) of top conditioned, complete and proven provenance pieces available. Despite the slowdown in majority of worldwide economies, especially the very real crisis looming in the US with expected slowdown in luxury spending which has detracted many of the "local" US based spending, the added weak dollar has just acted as opposite draw and attracted overseas buyers as more then ample replacements for all the "FX created bargains" to be plucked "overseas".

As with everything Crème de la Crème in life, in this case top prices of fine vintage timepieces, are not only sustainable, but are certain to always demand and receive willing buyers who want nothing but the very best - no matter does the asking price seem, for a lack of a better word, reasonable (at least to most of us mere mortals). IMO this one auction, for us vintage Rolex aficionados, will be the one to watch and closely analyze for future clues to the direction of this crazy thing that makes us tick with so much joy.