Buying Time in 30 Seconds
The watch world is selling more than time today. Bucherer’s new Paris Rolex flagship turns retail into an experience, while Off-White broadens its American reach and Watches of Switzerland earns another workplace certification. Tudor’s connection with Navy SEALs provides a reminder that some of the strongest watch stories begin with actual service. Independent watchmaking supplies another thread, connecting Vianney Halter’s Antiqua, INDIES.NYC, a forthcoming George Daniels exhibition and Phillips’s Hong Kong offerings. New releases range from RZE’s upgradeable digital tool watch to Chopard’s extraordinary Day of the Dead minute repeater. Yesterday’s Breguet Messidor reached $41,501 without selling; today’s unworn Blancpain Bathyscaphe closes at 6:30 p.m. EDT.
Time Graphing Today’s Watch Universe
A Good Story Still Has to Earn Its Place on Your Wrist
Every watch company has a story. Some begin in a workshop, some in an archive and some in a marketing meeting. The collector’s job is to work out which stories become more interesting with ownership—and which have already given you their best moment by the time you finish reading the advertisement.
Today’s issue offers an unusually good opportunity to make that distinction. We have military watches that became personal keepsakes, independent creations that took years to find their audience, major manufacturers investing in craftsmanship, and retailers building ever more elaborate settings in which to buy it all. Running underneath those stories is a practical question: what are we actually valuing?
Start with Tudor’s relationship with U.S. Navy SEALs. These watches acquired significance because people depended on them. They were issued, worn, knocked around and carried through experiences that no advertising department could manufacture. Their later emotional value grew out of that use. A watch that once helped coordinate a mission eventually became something a veteran wanted to keep, or a family wanted to inherit.
That is a demanding standard for modern watch storytelling. It also helps explain why military provenance remains so compelling: the connection between object and experience is tangible. The watch was there.
Vianney Halter’s Antiqua approaches lasting significance from another direction. Its riveted portholes and unconventional perpetual-calendar display expressed an individual imagination strongly enough to look strange when it appeared and unmistakable decades later. Recognition took time. The creative conviction came first.
That sequence matters as independent watchmaking attracts more attention—and more expensive expectations. A distinctive watch can deserve admiration without deserving every price attached to it. The discussion in today’s Roman Sharf video about an independent-watch bubble should be treated as a market argument to examine, rather than a verdict on an entire field. Individual makers, individual references and individual transactions still require individual judgment.
The INDIES.NYC gathering offers a useful setting for that judgment. Meeting a maker, handling a watch and asking how something was made can reveal more than another photograph of a supposedly unobtainable object. The same opportunity for discovery helps explain the appeal of Windup’s expanding New York fair. Collecting becomes richer when access includes conversation.
We should also resist making ownership structure a shortcut for quality. Today’s examination of industrial artisanship and independence asks us to look at the work itself. A small team inside a major company can produce extraordinary hand finishing. An independent business still relies on suppliers, machinery and commercial decisions. Understanding who did the work, and how much attention it received, tells us more than a convenient label.
Meanwhile, Hermès’s H08 raises the question everyone enjoys asking and nobody can answer reliably: are we looking at a future icon? Perhaps. But an icon develops through years of consistent design, ownership and recognition. Calling something “the next Nautilus” can distract from the more useful question of whether the watch has a convincing identity of its own. In this case, it certainly does.
Retail has its own version of this challenge. Bucherer’s new Rolex flagship in Paris gives the brand a larger stage, with hospitality and private consultation woven into the visit. Those surroundings can improve the buying experience. Their lasting value depends on the care and competence that continue after the customer leaves.
Then there is today’s Blancpain auction. An unworn Bathyscaphe with box and papers brings a serious movement, a steel bracelet and a substantial diving history. Its $17,100 retail price is one reference point. The amount a bidder will commit tonight is another. Yesterday’s unsold Breguet reminds us that impressive mechanics and an important name do not automatically settle the negotiation.
The strongest watches in today’s issue give us something specific to return to: a service history, an original design, a beautifully executed mechanism, or simply the pleasure of wearing them. Those qualities deserve attention before the resale prediction. Buy a story you can keep discovering, at a price you can live with, and give the watch a chance to become part of your own.
-Michael Wolf
News
Watches of Switzerland Earns Great Place To Work Recognition Again
Watches of Switzerland Group has received Great Place To Work recognition for the second time, following a confidential survey in which nearly three-quarters of its global employees participated. The group exceeded the required trust-index threshold, with the certification assessing areas including respect, fairness, credibility and camaraderie.
CEO Brian Duffy credited colleagues’ dedication and teamwork, while HR director Philippa Jackson emphasized the connection between employee support, memorable customer experiences and community involvement. The group continues to invest in development, wellbeing and inclusion, alongside a foundation that has contributed more than £10 million to programs since 2021.
For a retailer whose business depends heavily on personal relationships, workplace culture has a practical consequence: knowledgeable, supported employees are central to the experience customers receive across the counter.
Off-White Expands the American Reach of Its TIME Watch Collection
Off-White is broadening U.S. distribution for its TIME watch collection through retailers including Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Stadium Goods and Complex Shop. The expansion places the watches in front of both department-store shoppers and an audience already engaged with streetwear and contemporary design.
The accompanying push highlights the PROTO family, whose industrial styling makes construction part of the visual presentation. PROTO 01 emphasizes exposed structural details, PROTO LAYER builds depth through materials and graphics, and PROTO AUTO brings an automatic movement into view.
The LAYER and AUTO versions use 38 × 42.8mm stainless-steel cases, sapphire-coated crystals and two-year international warranties. The broader question is whether Off-White’s design language can turn fashion interest into an enduring watch business.
Bucherer Opens France’s First Dedicated Rolex Flagship
Bucherer has opened France’s first dedicated Rolex flagship on Paris’s Rue Saint-Honoré. The two-level boutique includes a Rolex Certified Pre-Owned room, a hospitality bar and private consultation spaces, extending the purchase experience beyond a conventional showroom visit.
The opening builds on Bucherer’s established Paris presence, which includes its multibrand flagship and a Tudor flagship. It also reflects the continuing emphasis on larger, more immersive brand environments.
For customers, the attraction is the opportunity to explore new and certified pre-owned Rolex watches within one setting. For the industry, the store illustrates how much importance major brands now place on controlling the surroundings, service and atmosphere in which their watches are presented.
Features
To Carry and To Keep: The Tudor Watches of Warriors
Tudor’s connection with U.S. Navy SEALs began with a practical requirement: reliable watches for men working underwater and under pressure. This feature traces that relationship to the early 1960s, when Lieutenant Commander Roy Boehm procured Tudor Oyster Prince Submariners for the newly formed teams.
Former SEALs Bob Rohrbach and John McLachlan describe how straightforward pieces of issued equipment became deeply personal possessions. A simple handover could begin a relationship lasting through deployments, retirement and eventual transfer to another generation.
The history includes connections with the Apollo 11 recovery and watches preserved in museum collections. Its most compelling point is more intimate: a functional object can accumulate experiences until keeping it becomes as important as using it.
Could the Hermès H08 Become a Future Icon?
Since its 2021 introduction, the Hermès H08 has developed a recognizable identity through its shaped case, distinctive typography and willingness to experiment with materials. Titanium, dark coatings, composite constructions and changing color treatments have given the collection room to evolve without losing its central design.
The latest skeletonized direction adds another dimension to that development. Behind it is a longer investment in watchmaking expertise, production capacity and controlled distribution.
Comparisons with the Nautilus make an attention-grabbing starting point, but the H08’s future depends on its own consistency and appeal. Current availability also gives collectors something valuable: the opportunity to assess the watch on the wrist before scarcity becomes the dominant subject.
Master of Control: Robert Pattinson and Jaeger-LeCoultre
Robert Pattinson’s career has moved from enormous franchises to demanding independent films and back again, with roles in Good Time, The Lighthouse, Tenet and The Batman demonstrating a sustained appetite for different kinds of work.
As Jaeger-LeCoultre’s global ambassador, he now brings that creative identity to the Master Control Chronometer collection. The association centers on precision, preparation and the combination of technical discipline with artistic expression.
Celebrity partnerships ultimately need the watches to hold attention on their own. Here, the feature uses Pattinson’s approach to performance as an entry into the manufacture’s emphasis on measured execution and craft.
Vianney Halter’s Antiqua: An Independent Vision That Outlasted Its Moment
Introduced in 1998, Vianney Halter’s Antiqua presented a perpetual calendar through four riveted portholes, with an appearance drawn from imagined machinery and steam-age science fiction. Its unusual exterior was supported by substantial mechanical and finishing work, including the VH198 calibre developed from a reworked Lemania base.
Production remained small, with approximately 110 examples made between 1999 and 2016. Hand-engraved dials, complex construction and the distinctive “mysterious mass” rotor gave collectors details to discover beyond the initial visual surprise.
The Antiqua’s later recognition illustrates how independent watchmaking can take years to find a broader audience. Its importance rests on a coherent personal vision that remained recognizable while collecting tastes changed around it.
INDIES.NYC’s Fourth Edition Puts Makers Within Reach
INDIES.NYC brought together 25 independent watchmakers from nine countries and approximately 700 collectors, journalists and industry visitors during New York Watch Week. Its six-hour salon favored close conversation and direct handling over the formality of a conventional trade show.
Participants ranged from established figures including Stepan Sarpaneva, Marco Tedeschi and Nicolas Delaloye to newer names seeking an audience for their work. The event also spotlighted three female watchmakers and promoted its “1% for the Next Generation” educational initiative.
Organizers plan to return on April 22, 2027. The event’s appeal is straightforward: collectors can ask questions of the people responsible for the watches, giving the word “independent” a human face.
Industrial Artisanship and the Paradox of Independence
Exceptional handwork does not follow a simple corporate boundary. This essay examines small specialist teams within larger organizations, including Seiko Epson’s Micro Artist Studio, Louis Vuitton’s La Fabrique du Temps and A. Lange & Söhne.
Its useful proposition is to consider the human attention devoted to a watch. Extensive finishing, difficult assembly and original development can exist within an industrial structure, just as independent makers depend on outside component suppliers and specialist expertise.
The relationship runs both ways: large houses support demanding craft, while smaller makers contribute ideas and capabilities. For collectors, the most revealing questions concern who performed the work, how it was executed and what distinguishes the finished object.
New Watches
Dollar conversions are approximate, using October 21 reference rates of about US$1.1234 per euro and US$1.214 per Swiss franc. Converted figures are indicative equivalents, with taxes and regional pricing potentially differing.
Chopard L.U.C Full Strike Día de los Muertos Edition 13
Chopard’s latest unique-piece Full Strike turns its minute repeater into an elaborate celebration of Mexico’s Day of the Dead. The 42.5mm ethical rose-gold case frames a calavera assembled from deep-blue rye-straw marquetry, eggshell details and hand-engraved gold, with decorative work extending onto the case itself.
The manually wound L.U.C 08.01-L combines 533 components, a 60-hour power reserve and separate indications for the movement and striking reserves. Its sapphire striking system and Geneva Seal finishing provide a technically ambitious foundation for the extraordinary dial. While some coverage lists pricing on request, a published U.S. report supplies a dollar figure. Reported price: US$575,000.
Go Deeper · Go Deeper: Reported U.S. Price
Louis Erard Día de los Muertos Black
Louis Erard approaches the Day of the Dead with a colorful skull set against a black dial, using recessed floral details and multiple color transfers to create depth. A sandblasted, black PVD-coated 42mm steel case and anthracite pear-shaped hands give the watch a deliberately dramatic presence.
The automatic Sellita SW261-1 provides approximately 38 hours of power reserve, while a black calfskin strap includes quick-release spring bars. Production is limited to ten examples, making this a particularly small run even by the brand’s collaborative standards. The announced CHF3,490 price excludes tax. Price: approximately US$4,240 before tax.
Go Deeper · Go Deeper: Official Details
NOMOS Metro Date Power Reserve Ice Blue
NOMOS gives the Metro Date Power Reserve a metallic ice-blue dial and a new hand-wound DUW 4701 movement. The 37mm steel case remains just 8mm thick, preserving the compact proportions and architectural clarity associated with the design.
The movement supplies a 52-hour power reserve, a patented quick-set date and the brand’s proprietary swing system. A power-reserve display adds visual interest and everyday usefulness, while a black Shell Cordovan strap keeps the presentation restrained. Buyers can choose between steel and sapphire casebacks. Price: US$4,210 with a steel caseback or US$4,500 with a sapphire caseback.
Tissot PRX Skeleton Damian Lillard Special Edition
Tissot takes the PRX into more theatrical territory with a 44mm steel case, a skeletonized hand-wound movement and burgundy accents celebrating Damian Lillard. The open display makes the mechanics central to the design, while a distinctive small-seconds treatment references his “Dame D.O.L.L.A.” identity.
The watch retains a sapphire crystal and 100 meters of water resistance, adding practical credentials to the oversized presentation. Burgundy rubber and leather straps offer different wearing options, and a pocket-watch conversion kit makes this one of the collection’s more unusual releases. Tissot’s official American listing provides a direct U.S. price. Price: US$2,075.
Go Deeper · Go Deeper: Official U.S. Listing
Certina DS Action Goes Dark With Four New Models
Certina introduces four black-coated DS Action watches, using orange, green, blue and teal accents to give the restrained cases a more energetic character. Two 38mm automatic divers are joined by two 42mm quartz chronographs, giving buyers a choice between mechanical autonomy and quartz convenience.
The divers combine ceramic bezels with an approximately 80-hour power reserve and ISO 6425 dive-watch credentials. The wider release emphasizes 300-meter water resistance, luminous displays and the brand’s shock-resistance engineering, with bracelet and silicone-strap treatments reinforcing the sporting approach. Reported U.S. prices: US$1,000 for the automatic divers and US$690 for the quartz chronographs.
RZE UTD-8080-ST—and an Upgrade for Existing Owners
RZE updates its digital tool-watch platform with a white Cerakote-coated titanium case, black accents and the new RZE-8080 module. The 43mm watch combines a high-contrast FSTN LCD with dual-time functionality, a countdown timer and multiple alarms.
A sapphire crystal, 200-meter water resistance and an estimated three-year CR2032 battery life support its practical brief. The more interesting ownership story may be the upgrade program, which lets existing UTD-8000 customers replace their modules rather than purchase an entirely new watch. Price: US$399 for the UTD-8080-ST; US$100 for the existing-owner module upgrade.
Yema Spacegraf Heure Sidérale Tourbillon Volant Millésime 2026
Yema combines a flying tourbillon with a rotating celestial disc in its most ambitious 2026 Millésime creation. The 42mm titanium case frames a black dial with blue luminous accents, giving the astronomical display and exposed regulator distinct positions within the composition.
Developed with Olivier Mory, the CMM.32 calibre provides a substantial 105-hour power reserve. The 150-piece edition also offers 100-meter water resistance, making the specification unusually robust for a watch with this combination of complications. Its announced European price is €14,500. Price: approximately US$16,300, converted from the European price.
Minerva Exo Tourbillon Skeleton Limited Edition 18
Minerva places its own identity prominently on an 18-piece rose-gold skeleton watch, with a Persian-blue agate cameo depicting its namesake goddess. The 44.8mm case surrounds the manually wound M18.69, whose Exo Tourbillon architecture positions the large balance outside the rotating cage.
Extensive hand finishing includes 400 polished inner bevels, while the openworked construction exposes the relationship between bridges, wheels and the suspended regulator. A blue alligator strap completes a watch that emphasizes Minerva’s heritage within its continuing corporate ownership. Final pricing remains unconfirmed; published expectations exceed €180,000. Price: unconfirmed; the reported expectation converts to more than approximately US$202,200.
Svea Atelier Launches the Monolith Collection
Sweden’s Svea Atelier makes its debut with five compact watches sharing an asymmetric steel case measuring approximately 27.5 × 27 × 5.5mm. Lattice, Oxblood and Fjord form the Core collection, while Tiger Eye and Onyx introduce natural-stone dials in the Atelier series.
Swiss-made Ronda 1062 quartz movements keep the watches thin and direct attention toward shape, materials and finishing. Sapphire crystals, 50-meter water resistance and integrated bracelets provide practical everyday specifications, with deliveries expected from early January 2027 following the October 21 preorder opening. Announced prices are €680 and €780, respectively, excluding VAT. Prices: approximately US$765 for Core models and US$875 for Atelier stone-dial models, before tax.
Comparisons
Timex Marlin Draper vs. Baltic MR01: What Does the Extra Money Buy?
The $280 Timex Marlin Draper Automatic and $610 Baltic MR01 approach affordable dress watches from different directions. Timex emphasizes familiar mid-century styling, a Miyota automatic movement, 50-meter water resistance and straightforward everyday appeal.
Baltic spends more of its personality on the dial and movement. Breguet-style numerals, an offset small-seconds display and a Hangzhou micro-rotor calibre give enthusiasts more visual and mechanical detail to explore, housed within a slim 9.9mm case.
The choice depends on what makes a dress watch satisfying. Timex offers an accessible, uncomplicated route into the style; Baltic asks more money for a more distinctive presentation and a movement architecture unusual at this level.
Reviews
The Citizen AQ4094-58L: High-End Quartz With a Serious Technical Case
Citizen’s AQ4094-58L demonstrates how much sophistication can sit behind an apparently simple three-hand display. Its light-powered A060 calibre offers accuracy rated to ±5 seconds per year, a perpetual calendar, hand-alignment correction and a power-reserve indication.
The 40mm Super Titanium case uses Duratect surface hardening, pairing low weight with resistance to everyday wear. A textured blue dial and luminous dauphine hands give the watch enough visual distinction to support its premium positioning, while 100-meter water resistance broadens its usefulness.
Limited to 400 pieces and priced at US$3,095, it makes a persuasive case for precision and convenience as luxury attributes. The attraction is a watch engineered to ask relatively little of its owner while delivering unusually consistent timekeeping.
Panerai’s 42mm Luminor Keeps Its Tool-Watch Credentials
Panerai introduces three 42mm Luminor models that retain the collection’s recognizable case and crown-protection system while offering more approachable dimensions. Black, khaki-green and dark-blue dials give the PAM01710, PAM01711 and PAM01714 distinct personalities within a shared format.
The automatic P.980 supplies a three-day power reserve and stop-seconds functionality. More strikingly, the watches maintain a stated 500-meter water-resistance rating, demonstrating that smaller proportions need not mean a less substantial specification.
Color-matched canvas straps with leather reinforcement and a quick-release system support everyday use. Announced European prices are €6,500 for the first two references and €7,500 for the blue-dial version.
Unimatic Langhe Collection: One Landscape, Four Case Designs
A second look at the Langhe collection broadens the view to all twelve references: three colors across the Uno, Due, Quattro and Cinque. That range lets collectors choose between different case shapes and sizes while retaining the same seasonal palette.
The watches share Sellita SW200-1b automatic movements, approximately 41 hours of power reserve and 300-meter water resistance. Matching leather straps make the collection visually cohesive, with the smaller Cinque offering a different wearing proposition from the more familiar Uno diver.
Production totals 200 watches for each model-and-color combination. Reported prices are US$1,240 for the Uno and US$1,120 for the Due, Quattro and Cinque, before taxes—a useful example of how one design idea can work across a family without making every watch feel identical.
Events
George Daniels 100 Brings Rare Masterpieces to Singapore
The “George Daniels 100” exhibition will bring 22 rare Daniels watches to IAMWATCH at the Singapore Edition Hotel from November 13–15, 2026. Presented by Phillips and The Hour Glass, the exhibition includes the reunited Space Traveller I and Daniels’s personal Space Traveller II.
For enthusiasts accustomed to seeing these watches through auction photographs, the gathering offers an unusual opportunity to compare them in person. Talks and related programming will place the objects within Daniels’s broader contribution to independent watchmaking.
The exhibition is also scheduled to travel to London in early 2027. Its strongest attraction is the concentration of work by a watchmaker whose influence extends far beyond the small number of watches he produced.
Windup New York Gets Bigger—and Keeps the Conversation Personal
Windup Watch Fair’s 2026 New York edition brought more than 160 brands into an event that drew crowds around the block. Microbrands shared the stage with established names including Timex, G-Shock, Oris, Citizen Group and Bremont.
The scale has changed dramatically since the fair’s beginnings in 2015, but its central attraction remains direct access. Visitors can try watches, meet founders, question designers and discover unfamiliar names without the distance that often accompanies luxury retail.
Highlights included Papar’s Vuelte wandering-hour watch and Fossil’s Signature collection. The larger story is the growth of a community willing to spend time together around objects that are still best understood in person.
Podcast
Worn & Wound: Selling a Watch, Lume Colors and Finding Value
Zach Kazan welcomes Taylor Mason and Cait Bazemore for a community-driven question-and-answer episode covering watch ownership from several useful angles. Topics include lume emission colors, the ethics of selling personal watches and how enthusiasts think about value.
The conversation also touches on Windup New York and anticipated fall movies. Although the fair has now taken place, the episode was recorded beforehand, which explains the forward-looking discussion.
The appeal is the range of questions that arise once collecting becomes part of everyday life. Buying a watch is only the beginning; understanding it, enjoying it and eventually deciding how to sell it all bring their own considerations.
Video
He Tried Selling Me a FAKE $30,000 Watch… — Peter Piccolino
Peter Piccolino examines an attempted sale involving a counterfeit presented as a high-value luxury watch. The subject puts authentication and seller credibility at the center of a transaction where confidence can move faster than verification.
The useful takeaway is the importance of checking the object and the circumstances together. A persuasive seller, attractive price or convincing presentation still needs to be supported by reliable evidence about the watch itself.
The Independent Watch Bubble Is About to Burst — Dual Time Podcast #22, Roman Sharf
Roman Sharf’s discussion challenges the pricing and expectations surrounding independent watches, arguing that some valuations have become difficult to sustain. It is a provocative counterpoint to today’s coverage of independent makers, collector gatherings and prestigious auction offerings.
The title states a prediction, rather than an established outcome. Watch for how the discussion distinguishes creative achievement, genuine rarity and the speculative prices that can develop around a fashionable name.
Two Watch Collection: Om — Justin Hast
Justin Hast’s two-watch format turns attention toward selection: what earns a place when a collection is deliberately small? This installment with Om offers another way to think about the relationship between watches, personal taste and ownership.
Alongside an issue full of launches and expanding choices, the format provides a useful pause. Two carefully chosen watches can prompt a more revealing conversation than a much longer inventory.
Auctions
Phillips Puts Independent Watchmaking in the Hong Kong Spotlight
Phillips’s Hong Kong Watch Auction XXIII, scheduled for November 21–22, will feature rare watches from makers including F.P. Journe, Kari Voutilainen, Beat Haldimann, Théo Auffret and Kiu Tai Yu. The selection brings together different expressions of independent watchmaking, from unusual commissions to highly individual technical constructions.
Highlights include a platinum F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance “Mark Cho Special,” estimated at HK$6–12 million, and a 2001 Tourbillon Souverain estimated at HK$3.9–11.6 million. A titanium Voutilainen Vingt-8 carries an estimate of HK$1.5–2.5 million.
A public preview is scheduled for November 16–22 at WKCDA Tower. For collectors following the independent market, the eventual results will provide a useful test of how enthusiasm translates into completed transactions.
Auction Report
October 21 Result: Breguet Messidor Reaches $41,501 Without a Sale
The 2019 Breguet Classique Tourbillon Messidor in rose gold, reference 5335BR/42/9W6, attracted a high bid of $41,501 in the October 21 auction but did not sell. That figure records an unsuccessful bid rather than a completed transaction. Even an elaborate skeletonized tourbillon must find agreement between what a buyer will commit and what a seller will accept.
Blancpain Bathyscaphe: Five Days of Power, Seven Decades of Perspective
Today’s featured auction is an unworn 2026 Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe, reference 5000-1110-71S, offered in the United States with box and papers. Its 43mm satin-brushed steel case and bracelet surround a sunburst meteor-gray dial and a unidirectional bezel with a ceramic insert. The seller describes the dial, case, bezel and bracelet as excellent, while noting that an unworn watch can still show minor handling marks.
The Bathyscaphe grew out of Blancpain’s pioneering Fifty Fathoms diving-watch family, with the original smaller, everyday-oriented interpretation appearing in the late 1950s. Blancpain revived the concept in 2013, retaining the connection with underwater equipment while giving it a restrained modern identity. This reference combines 300-meter water resistance with the automatic calibre 1315 and its 120-hour power reserve, making the five-day movement a substantial part of the ownership proposition.
Blancpain’s current U.S. retail price is $17,100, but available asking-price comparisons show why retail should not be treated as an auction valuation. One pre-owned example of this exact reference has been advertised at $9,230, while a German dealer lists a new 2026 example with box and papers at €11,440, approximately $12,850 including the local VAT shown in that listing. These are advertised prices, with different condition, tax and warranty circumstances; neither establishes a completed-sale value for tonight’s watch. They do, however, provide concrete alternatives against which to assess the total auction cost.
The appeal here is an unworn, bracelet-equipped example of a technically accomplished diver with a long-established identity. Its recent year and complete set strengthen the comparison with new stock, while the actual bracelet fit, warranty documentation and any handling marks remain relevant to the purchase. The value will depend on how convincingly the final total compares with available alternatives. The auction closes tonight, Thursday, October 22, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. EDT.
Current bid: $6,700
Losing Time
Today’s Big Losers at Auction on Grailzee
Four watches, four failed sales, and four reminders that an asking price is technically just a wish with a dollar sign attached.
The 2023 Hublot Big Bang Unico “All Black Ceramic” Limited Edition asked $19,000 and attracted a $10,000 bid, leaving a $9,000 shortfall—47.4% below asking. The skeleton dial offered a clear view of the movement; the bidding offered an equally clear view of the disconnect. “All Black” apparently extended to the seller’s chances of getting $19,000 that day.
The 2024 Rolex Sky-Dweller in rose gold with a chocolate dial carried a $56,000 ask but topped out at $32,000. That’s $24,000 short, or 42.9% below asking—the largest dollar gap of the four. Precious metal, a desirable dial, and the Rolex name still couldn’t persuade bidders to finance the seller’s optimism.
The 2007 Rolex Daytona with a mother-of-pearl dial and yellow gold bracelet sought $42,500 and received a $23,500 bid, a $19,000 miss—44.7% below asking. Apparently, neither gold nor mother-of-pearl could dress up the gap between what the seller wanted and what bidders would actually put on the line.
The 2025 Porsche Design Chronograph Limited Edition delivered the most dramatic percentage miss. Against an $8,500 ask, its $3,000 high bid left a $5,500 gap—64.7% below asking. For something wearing the Porsche name, that is quite a depreciation lap. Bidders offered barely more than a third of the requested price.
Together, the four sellers wanted $126,000. The combined high bids reached $68,500, leaving $57,500 on the imaginary negotiating table—a collective shortfall of 45.6%.
The common thread is ambitious pricing meeting a distinctly unimpressed bidding audience. The two Rolexes had slightly smaller percentage gaps, but even they missed by more than 40%. Limited-edition labels offered no obvious protection: the Hublot missed by nearly half, and the Porsche Design by almost two-thirds.
These failed sales don’t establish definitive market values; bidding depth, condition, completeness, and venue could all affect the results. They do establish that, in these four attempts, buyers were nowhere near the sellers’ expectations. The watches may have kept excellent time. The asking prices could use an adjustment.
Closing Time
Thank you for spending part of your day with BuyingTime Daily. Whether a watch earns its place through engineering, design or the memories it carries, the best discoveries usually reward a closer look. Stay curious, enjoy what is already on your wrist, and we’ll be back tomorrow with more stories worth your time.