Christie’s Launches First Online Watch Sale

10.01.2013

ART & DESIGN

From October 1st through October 8th, Christie’s will unveil The Essential Watch Collection, the auction house’s first ever online-only sale of a selection of iconic watches from some of the most coveted brands like Patek Philippe, Rolex, Breitling and more. Here, Reginald Brack, Director of Private Sales, Watches discusses the weeklong sale and the benefits of launching a new e-commerce selling platform exclusively to Life+Times.

Life+Times: October 1st marks the first-ever online sale of watches titled “The Essential Watch Collection.” There are 22 iconic models being featured. How was the selection made?Reginald Brack:We wanted to appeal to a wide variety of clientele, so we chose a well-rounded collection ranging from vintage sport watches to classic dress watches in order to not exclude anyone.

L+T: What can we expect from the upcoming sale?
RB: Of course, we have great vintage Rolex, in addition, we added a few surprises such as the stainless steel Vacheron dress watch and a killer 18k pink gold Breitling chronograph. The accessible price points offer great appeal to these watches – hand selected from our global team, this sale should lure new collectors into the genre of the fine and rare world of watches at Christie’s.

L+T: You’re the Director of Private Sales, Watches. What exactly does your role entail? What is your day-to-day?
RB: What is great about my job is that every day yields new experiences with some of the most fascinating people from all around the world. From a client I will meet in our lobby boutique here at Christie’s to a lunch appointment with a dealer, not to mention travel to Dubai and Geneva next month; it all centers around the watches and finding only the most unique and sought after references in the world.

L+T: Tell me a little bit about your background. How did you end up becoming an expert in watches? Was this something you were always interested in?<
RB: I started out as a collector fascinated by watches, learning as much as I could about as many brands as possible which evolved into curating collections for top collectors – all of which brought me to develop the privates sales division for watches at the world’s leading auction house, Christie’s.

L+T Christie’s has really been powering forward with online sales – targeting a new audience. How do you feel like this translates into the market of watches?
RB: An entirely different type of collector purchases watches online. We feel that this, and subsequent sales, will bring new collectors into the department which will lead to greater access and opportunity to collect. For Christie’s, it is an investment for continued growth and new client acquisition.

L+T: What is the price point of this sale? What are some of the very special timepieces that one can find during this sale?
RB: We kept the price points accessible, ranging from a low of $3,000 of a high up to $30,000. If you’re looking for a “Great White” Rolex Sea-Dweller (Lot 1) – we have the perfect one. And if you’ve always wanted a Patek Philippe, we have a gorgeous yellow gold Calatrava (Lot 9) waiting to find a good home.