Bring a Loupe: A Cotton Bowl Tudor Date + Day, A Tropical Rolex GMT-Master, And A Government-Seized Patek Philippe Nautilus
Happy Friday morning, I hope you didn’t put your loupe away after last week! At some point, I may work around a theme for the selections, but for now, working to chip away at lost time, our roundup will feature the best watches I can find, and no throughline is needed. On this 2024 reunion tour, we’re playing the Bring A Loupe hits– vintage Rolex, Patek, etc. all with a flair for storytelling.
Watches on offer in an auction from our August 16, 2024 edition all found new wrists to call home. In terms of results, highlights were the Heuer Camaro with a Champion dial selling for $11,025 on eBay and the Habring² Chrono-Felix for Shellman selling for $11,055. I hope at least a few of the new owners are Hodinkee readers and BAL enthusiasts!
Let’s get into it already. This week’s picks include a Tudor with (American) football provenance, a vintage Patek with some Gubelin-retailed extra sauce, and one of the most sought-after modern Pateks up for auction after being seized by the UK Police.
1969 Tudor Date + Day Jumbo Ref. 7017/0 For The 1974 Cotton Bowl Classic
The Cotton Bowl is one of the oldest bowl games in all of college football. If that doesn’t ring a bell, quickly, at the end of the NCAA’s Division 1 Football regular season, the best-performing teams are invited to or qualify for additional bowl games. Historically, the Cotton Bowl has pitted two of the top-ranked teams in the country against each other, and today, it serves as one of the “New Year’s Six” – a rotating group of the most prestigious bowls that serve to decide the matchup for the National Championship game.
A big part of this whole bowl game structure is the gifts. Now, players might receive a PlayStation or a pair of Bose headphones, and the winning team might receive championship rings. The rings were always a perk, but the PlayStations… not so much. The Cotton Bowl was always a bit different. Since the first time it was played in 1937, players on each participating team were presented with watches. The presentation watches varied in quality and collectibility, but the peak was from 1967 to 1976 when Rolex and Tudor watches were chosen.
The watch on offer today was produced in 1969 but was awarded for the 1974 Cotton Bowl Classic. Among the Cotton Bowl watches from the crown and its sister brand, these “Jumbo” Date + Day examples are arguably the best. I would say it is a toss-up between the Rolex Datejusts (1969, 1970) and the Date + Day Tudors (1974, 1976). The dial design is really fascinating as all Tudor text has been omitted to make room for the large Cotton Bowl logo, year, and arched text at six o’clock.
In the 1974 Cotton Bowl, 12th-ranked Nebraska, under the leadership of then first-year and now legendary head coach Tom Osborne, beat 8th-ranked Texas handly by the score of 19 to 3. Adding intrigue and provenance, engraved on the caseback of each Cotton Bowl Tudor is the name of the recipient. The recipient of this watch was Chad Leonardi, an offensive guard, number 61.
The seller, Kirill over at Lunar Oyster, is asking a reasonable $5,500. Find it right here.
1970s Patek Philippe Calatrava Ref. 3558 Retailed By Gubelin With Gubelin Bracelet
In a somewhat recent episode of Hodinkee’s preeminent podcast, Hodinkee Radio, host Tony Traina asked yours truly for an “underrated” Calatrava reference. My answer was the humble 3558. As I alluded to in that episode, the charm of this watch to me is just how Rolex Datejust coded it is. As Patek expanded their time-only or Calatrava offerings in the 60s and 70s, there was a flavor for every customer, and I find it really interesting that this watch was even made. It has a vibe that is very different from Patek, but somehow, it just works. The cal. 27-460 movement inside is the second generation of the iconic cal. 12-600. Put simply, both of these calibers are considered among the best automatic movements of the period or, to some, ever produced.
If Tony had followed up his question on the podcast with, “And what is the ultimate version of a ref. 3558?” my answer would have looked something like the watch we have for sale here. If only he had asked me, and I knew of this watch’s existence when we recorded the pod! Due to close proximity, I was able to view this Gubelin-signed Patek in person before including it in Bring A Loupe. I can confirm that it is excellent. In particular, the bracelet is spectacular. Signed by Gubelin inside the clasp, I love the look of the links. The seller, TikTok’s Mike Nouveau, called the shape “dog bone,” but I argue they are meant to be similar to Gubelin’s hourglass logo.
The seller, Mike Nouveau, has listed this Patek on his new website/app, Pushers.io, and is asking an even $25,000. Check it out right here.
1959 Rolex GMT-Master Ref. 1675 With Type 3 Chapter Ring Gilt Dial And Pointed Crown Guard Case
Vintage Rolex has matured to the point where most collectors are aware of what makes “excellent” or “great” condition. Honestly, I attribute some of the cooling in this market to the absolute obsession with perfect condition. At some point, a great watch should be assessed by the overall look. If it is pleasing and has endless charm, like the example here, that should be more attractive than one in perfect condition and unworn to the point where there is no visible story. These watches are decades old; I want to be able to see that age.
This is a great vintage GMT-Master. The case shows polishing, sure, and the dial is not flawless, but it is tropical, and, hey, the watch has been worn. It looks like it has been worn a lot. As a vintage enthusiast, I am glad the watch shows a few dings and marks. Without that wear, the insert wouldn’t be so perfectly faded, and the dial should not be so “tropical” brown. I would rather have a tropical dial like this in a worn case than an untouched one; it just makes more sense.
The seller, Arwind from Tortoise Watches, is located in London and is asking £31,000 for this vintage ref. 1675.
2000s A. Lange & Sohne Lange 1 Ref. 101.027x
In a year where the brand is celebrating its 30th anniversary, using the 1994 post-Cold War relaunch, collectors are still overlooking Lange. Particularly, I don’t find there to be quite as much interest in Lange 1s as I would expect. Could it be fatigue? Sure. Could this lead to buying opportunities? Also, yes. Is this particular Lange 1 ref. 101.027x listed in the Hodinkee Shop? Once again, yes.
Lange collectors know and love the 101.027x. Known as the “secret” Lange 1, the reference with its special blued hands on a silver dial was never officially offered in the catalog. The short story is that Lange produced the watch for a few years in the early 2000s in roughly 225 examples, but the long story (recommended reading) involves UNESCO and a bridge in Germany. Whatever the story may be, this particular Lange 1 has become one of the most collectible ever made. To me, the appeal is quite simple. The ref. 101.027x was made in low quantities and is visually identical to the iconic stainless steel Lange 1 ref. 101.026.
As mentioned, this Lange 1 is on offer in the Hodinkee Shop. Our price is $37,000. As we continue our “Back To Basics” sale, I will include a pick in Bring A Loupe only when the watch is worth featuring and priced below market.
1950s Movado Ref. R4855
Now for our weekly eBay pick! Let me get ahead of this: I am clearly biased toward vintage Movado. I will try to refrain from including one in every Bring A Loupe, but if great examples keep popping up, my hands are tied! What’s so special about vintage Movado, you ask? Boy, do I have an article for you!
Some collectors, even those well-versed in the world of vintage watches, find that Movados from this period tend to be just slightly too small. While many are closer to 30mm than 40mm, there are “jumbo” references to look out for; this pick is one of them. The Favre-Perret-made 18k rose gold case checks in at 37mm and features fancy, claw-esque lugs– likely producing an even larger wrist presence than the dimensions might imply. Overall, the condition here is quite remarkable, with the only flaw being a bit of patina on the dial near three o’clock.
Find this “jumbo” pink-on-pink Movado here on eBay from a seller out of Chesterfield, Missouri with rock-solid feedback. The auction ends on Monday, August 26, at 6:42 PM ET.
2021 Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5711/1300A-001
In the modern Nautilus family, the ref. 5711/1300A is among the most sought-after, especially for a watch in stainless steel. It was introduced in 2021 as a part of the “last hurrah” of sorts for the steel 5711 run. In January of 2021, Patek discontinued the blue dial ref. 5711/1A-010 and, three months later, announced three one-year-only steel 5711 variants to put an endcap on the reference: the green dial ref. 5711/1A-014, the Tiffany blue dial 5711/1A-018, and this, the green dial, baguette set bezel ref. 5711/1300A. While the Tiffany dial made all the headlines, the subtle flex of the 1300A might be the most attractive in the long run. It marks the first and likely only time baguette diamonds have been set on a stainless steel Nautilus.
Produced in extremely small quantities, the reference was, as Sotheby’s put it, “exclusively distributed to VIP and VVIP Patek clients.” Exactly two have come up for public sale. The first sold for about $485,000 at Christies Hong Kong in November of 2023, and the most recent, from Sylvester Stallone’s collection, sold at Sotheby’s New York in June of 2024 for $492,000.
If you’re in the market for this reference and don’t mind a bit of a backstory, Wilsons Auctions is offering this example as a part of a government auction of seized assets.
You can bid on this rare Patek via the Wilsons Auctions website on Friday, August 30. It is also available for viewing in Central London on Wednesday, August 28.
Buyer Beware: A Waltham Chronograph Pocket Watch
By Mark Kauzlarich
Here is a watch (of course, a pocket watch) that I was extremely excited about, yet that excitement quickly turned into disappointment. Nevertheless, it serves as a cautionary tale.
Waltham was the only American company prior to the early 1910s that made serially-produced complicated watches. One name to note in the story of these complications was Henry Alfred Lugrin, a Swiss watchmaker who moved to New York and helped make complications modules for Waltham. So imagine how excited I was when a Waltham chronograph with a presentation engraving from H.A. Lugrin to his son showed up on eBay for $3,5000. If this were the real deal, I’d argue it might be one of the most historically significant watches in American horological history. Unfortunately, after reading the description, my dreams were crushed.
Certain Waltham chronographs were fitted with a movement reset with a pusher on the side. Later chronographs – like this movement Model 1884 – were fully crown-activated. To give the seller some credit, the description notes a filled-in hole in the midcase (a curious detail). Plus, the movement in this watch wasn’t even produced until three to four years after the engraving. Quickly, it was evident that the movement was swapped (though it could have been done 100 years ago).
Again, all of this was clear from the seller, but it felt like they also held out some hope that these issues could have a logical explanation that kept the provenance intact. As a gut check, I contacted an American pocket watch expert, who agreed with my concerns. He mentioned other anecdotal details, like the fact that H.A. Junior would have been only nine at the time – younger than most kids get gifted a watch like this. The engraving style was viable for the era, but there were too many question marks about the watch, and I passed on making an offer.
Hodinkee
