Christie’s brought the hammer down on the most expensive Rolex wristwatch ever sold at auction. Rare 1949 Oyster Perpetual Rolex was auctioned for a price of $1,2 million and thus set a new world record. This vintage Rolex was expected to sell for between $570,000 and $1.13 million, but strong bidding on Monday pushed the final sale price to more precisely $1,220,632. The Oyster Perpetual model has a cloisonne enamel dial that depicts a whale and ship sailing through stormy seas, an 18-karat gold automatic with sweep center seconds, automatic jeweled lever movement and star numerals.
The Christie’s watch sale in Geneva, which lasted eight hours, showed that today’s collectors are truly global. The auction house said the sale had bidders from 30 countries. Over 435 watches worth $26.5 million were sold with Rolex managing to make it to the top.
