Announcing Highlights From This Fall’s ‘Nautilus 40’ Thematic Sale From Christie’s

By Benjamin Clymer

The rare reference 3700/3 in yellow gold with diamond bezel.

We were the first in the world to tell you about a Nautilus-only sale taking place this fall across four cities, and as we promised, we’re now back to tell you about the most interesting watches in the sale. To recap: there will be 40 watches in total – 10 in each city, offered at the tail end of each of four larger sales in Dubai, Hong Kong, Geneva, and New York. Let’s get into the highlights.

Dubai – October 19, 2016

The rare reference 3700/3 in yellow gold with diamond bezel.

The first of the four part sales will take place in Dubai on October 19, and we’ll see two very rare pieces. The first is a reference 3700/1A (the first Nautilus, in steel) that features an Omani crest on the dial. This is just the second such watch – in steel – to be confirmed authentic, and the first bears the preceding case number. What’s more, both watches were sold on the very same day in 1978. The watch was retailed by Asprey in London for Omani royalty, and it will hold an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000.

The second highlight of the Dubai watches is a piece I have actually never seen before – dubbed reference 3700/3. It is a yellow gold Nautilus with original wide bracelet, but factory diamond bezel. It was, according to Christie’s, one of the final first series Nautilus watches to be made by the Favre-Perret case factory. Estimate here is $70,000 to $120,000.

Geneva – November 14, 2016

The 3700/031, king of the Nautilus.One of two yellow gold 3700s with Omani dial.

There are very strong watches in Dubai, but for Geneva, it’s clear Christie’s will be showing the biggest and the baddest Nautiluses (Nautili?) they could track down. The star of the show is clearly the reference 3700/031, or one of just two 3700s to be found in platinum. This watch is a record setter already, having sold for 783,000 CHF in 2015, and it remains the most important, most coveted Nautilus in the world. Christie’s has it at $500,000 to $800,000.

The other big lot for the Geneva sale is another Omani Nautilus, this time in yellow gold. This watch has never before been offered publicly, and is just the second yellow gold 3700 Omani dial to be …read more      

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