Rolex is cornering the Vintage Market – My Geneve Watch Auction Report – May 2023. One paddle took care of several world record prices achieved last weekend during the watch auctions in Geneve. The mysterious lady is known to insiders as representative of Rolex. She was busy cornering the market for any ultra rare Rolex that came to the market. The elusive Daytonas Ref 6270 that sold for massive Chf 3,7 million, the steel minty Milgauss Ref 6541 for record breaking Chf 2,3 million both at Phillips, then she secured the yellow gold Paul Newman JPS Daytona at Sotheby’s for Chf 2,3 million. Thes ..read more

Mike and Jed put together a brilliant GTG named “Issued”, this time in London. For the 4th time this special watch gathering is taking place. We all had to wait for 3 years due to Covid but that made it all even more special to see and great watch buddy’s from around the world. So I packed my bag and went up to downtown London to see all my friends! 100 years of Rolex Evolution. The man, the myth, the legend, Mike Wood! Some of the watches that where put on the table… Spectacular ;location, in the Parlement of the UK! Not only Rolex but many more brands where on view.. Imploded Military ..read more

The Vintage Rolex Buyer’s Guide by Philipp Stahl. So far 650.000 unique visitors have read my “Vintage Rolex Buyer’s Guide”. In average it took you 5 minutes each to read my Rolex collectors tutorial. Thats’ 3,25 million FREE minutes of vintage Rolex Education! Do you want to learn to buy vintage Rolex safely? Then start now with my extensive “Vintage Rolex Buyer’s Guide” thats free for you to study here online. But be prepared, this is a LONG article that will take some of your time to digest!  I noticed yet again that even seasoned collectors ask me on a regular bas ..read more

The importance of the vintage Rolex dial in watch collecting. Modern watch collecting has become all about the condition of the dial. Some watch specialist say that about 80-90% of the value is in the dial nowadays. For outsiders this sounds silly or totally unlogic because a watch is made of lots of spare parts to become an iconic timepiece thats worth collecting. But nothing is more true nowadays, indeed collecting vintage Rolex is focussing on the condition of the dial. In specific about the dial patina. Once you studied my “Rolex Buyers Guide” you know modern watch collecting i ..read more

Today I went to see my old buddy Helmut Crott who made a important book about watch dials. The extensive archive he has put together over the last 50 years has made him the to go to expert if you are looking for more proven evidence. Many auction houses and important collectors have reached out to Mr Crott over the years. His bibliotheek of original documents of dial makers such as Stern and others is one of a kind. He’s in the possession of all the pictures details made by these dial manufactories and combined it in his recently launched book “Le Cadran”. Besides all this historical importan ..read more

The Story about Rolex Prototypes of dial maker SINGER….  I’m excited to show you some super interesting SINGER prototype dials mainly made for Rolex. Not only rare design proposals for the DateJust but also a handful examples SINGER made for the legendary Submariner and the Daytona. We now get a much better view of the dial makers catalogue of 1967 – 1968 that got presented to Rolex, Tudor, Omega and for instance Universal, the clients SINGER had back in the days. Once you see the pictures I like to share of the dial studies showing SINGER to their serveral clients, the p ..read more

The Hong Kong Watch Auction: XII – Hong Kong Auctions 5-6 June 2021 Phillips Watches is coming to Hong Kong again to auction their important watch sale. Phillips HK boss Mr Perazzi was so nice to send me detailed pictures you normally don’t see. Find below the first set of info I received and want to share with you. Contact Thomas Perazzi directly with any questions. Find the Phillips HK catalogue by following this hard link. Let’s start pulling this Patek Philippe 2499 out and show you every possible detail you want & need to know prior bidding. I truly believe this way we cover all ..read more

Be aware: High quality FAKE vintage Rolex dials!! As I reported you “several times in last decade, the fakers are getting better “and we all have to be very careful in what we buy for our collection. In my “Buyers Guide I recently posted“ you can read about the little details that are so important for the originality of a true vintage Rolex. Since some while now we, the inner circle of hardcore vintage Rolex dealers & collectors, have noticed that fake Submariner dials are being sold as genuine. It seems most pop up in Europa,  at the moment, the source might come from Germany an ..read more

This time it was not Rolex but Ford that was the reason why we went to Geneva. Like fitting for your bespoke suit, the Ford Concierge Team made it possible for me to experience the new GT. I first ran into the Heritage Ford GT from 1966, who won Le Mans, that was also on display. First time I saw this grail race car up close, what a machine, really very impressive! Then, there it was, the matt painted new Ford GT, whaooooooo!!! There it is, in matt black with Heritage number 2 and stripes. I was told it is a prototype as also the interior was not standard. Ford does make a Heritage Edition ..read more

The Thin Line between Passion and Obsession by Philipp Stahl Since my childhood, I became fascinated with watches, and this attraction has grown stronger over the years. Nowadays, I’m non-stop busy with mostly vintage watches, even in my dreams. It actually feels like I am living my dream. There is even a psychological term for it: harmonic passion. Friends would like to call it more an obsession. What has triggered this passion for watches and where has it taken me over the years? My very first encounter with jewels and watches was at my aunt’s jewelry business in Düsseldorf, at the age of ..read more