Omega watch from Casino Royale up for auction
06-Apr-2007 • Collecting
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Craig's beat-up "Planet Ocean" watch is among more than 300 Omega pieces to be offered by Antiquorum Auctioneers in Geneva on April 14 and 15. The watch Craig wore while doing many of his stunts has a high estimate of $6,500.
Omega, owned by Swatch Group AG, the world's largest watchmaker, is also selling a "Seamaster Professional" worn by Pierce Brosnan in 1997's "Tomorrow Never Dies," with a top estimate of $10,000. A ring-watch of first "Bond girl" Ursula Andress, with 28 square-cut diamonds, may fetch as much as $30,000, according to the auction house.
The sale may help Swatch elevate Omega's brand, which trails luxury names such as Rolex and Patek Philippe. A 1933 Patek Philippe "Henry Graves Supercomplication" fetched a record $11 million in 1999 at Sotheby's in New York. Dealers said the "Omegamania" auction may beat the $3 million high valuation as presale estimates for many lots are modest.
"Omega as a brand has always been underrated," said Edward Faber, founder and principal of Aaron Faber Gallery, which specializes in collector watches. "They made a heck of a lot more Omegas than they did Patek Philippes."
Many collectors buy old watches as an investment. Timepieces brought in about $85 million at auctions worldwide last year, according to figures provided by Christie's International, the world's biggest watch auctioneer.
Omega has been making watches since 1848; the sale's oldest item -- an 1883 "Louis Brandt & Freres" model -- may fetch as much as $37,000. The top lot is an 18-karat yellow gold "Tourbillon" wrist chronometer, made in 1947, with a presale high estimate of $150,000.
"Omega is a company that decided to produce watches for any pocket," said Antiquorum Chairman Osvaldo Patrizzi. "They produced the most precise watches for reasonable prices."
Antiquorum and Omega have been marketing the auction in 12 cities for the past two months. The exhibition has traveled to New York and Dubai, Tokyo and Shanghai, London and Munich.
"Hopefully, this auction will make the market aware that there are very good collectible Omega watches out there," said Matthew Bain, co-owner of Senzatempo, a vintage-watch store in Miami Beach. "For the vintage watches, they are a great investment."
Some pieces up for sale are extremely rare, he said, including one with an enamel dial depicting an observatory and stars. "I maybe have seen three of them in the past 15 years," Bain said.
There is also a selection of professional watches, tested in space, deep water and freezing temperature.
In 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin wore Omega "Speedmaster Professional" watches on Apollo 11 for the first lunar landing. That year, the company made 28 numbered watches commemorating the event as gifts for all the astronauts. One of them, engraved with the name of Thomas K. Mattingly II, was never presented to the veteran of three space missions. Now, it's up for sale with a high estimate of $32,000.
"That's a great piece of history," Bain said. "That's going to go for huge money."
The "Mir Watch" spent a year on board the Russian orbit station in 1993-94 while Omega was researching the long-term effects of zero gravity. The watch has a high estimate of $40,000. Also for sale is a prototype watch that was tested under frigid conditions in Alaska in the early 1970s.
Omega is offering buyers a two-year factory guarantee for each of the 300 lots in the sale, including the vintage pieces. "Usually you buy a watch at an auction and if it's broken, c'est la vie," Bain said.
Can a single sale create a market?
"It will create a platform on which to build," Faber said. "Once at auction is an accident. Twice is a coincidence. Three times is a market."
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