My Patek Philippe

Posted By HARRIS A S on December 14, 2009

Corum Diamond US$10.00 Coin watch US Bicentennial 1776-1976.

Sometime in 1990, I made another trip to Singapore and managed to get a copy of Sotheby’s New York auction catalogue. There were several stunning watches to be auctioned at a give-away price, then.

I went to Sotheby’s office, then situated at the Hotel Intercontinental Singapura at Orchard Road. It was the first time, I wanted to bid at some of the watches found in the catalogue and the young lady receptionist and also, the manager were both very helpful.

There was no internet and no eBay then and to bid at an auction, one had to attend to the auction house office, personally. I can still remember, I bid for three or four watches. One of them was Corum (estimated price in the auction catalogue is US$4 000.00 – $6 000.00), while three others were Patek Philippe, two in pink gold and another in yellow gold.

I was astonished, when I signed up to bid for the four watches because the manager of Sotheby’s did not ask me, whether or not I had the money to pay for those watches, in the event I was the high-bidder. Could it be because he saw the watch I had on my wrist, an ‘old’ watch?

Out of the four watches I bid, I managed to get only three and those were a Corum and two Patek Philippe watches. Though a little disappointed, I was still satisfied with the results achieved. Amongst the three watches, I loved the Corum best, since by then I had quite a large number of Patek Philippe watches in my collections.

I was notified of my success and I had to pay the local Sotheby’s office. Subsequently, Sotheby’s Singapore paid to their New York counterpart. It was that simple and quick a transaction. As usual, I could not sleep till I got those watches, posted to Sotheby’s Singapore.

The Corum watch is a beauty with its two rows of sparkling diamonds on the dial and not on the bezel. All the four lugs were lined with tiny diamonds, too. There is also a diamond at the winding-crown. The watch is totally factory-original and untouched in any way. It is a rare piece and I love it, tremendously. The two Patek Philippe watches were both sent in to the Patek Philippe Showroom and Service Station to be serviced. All the Patek Philippe watches which I paid with my own money would be sent for servicing but those I bought courtesy of friends’ money were pledged with them and most of the time, they decided to own them finally, when the fever of watch-collecting was just beginning to take root in Singapore. I am happy, since those watches would not get into the gold-smiths’ furnace and be burnt alive.

Even though Corum has never been a popular brand-name in Singapore, I love the one from Sotheby’s, since no one knew its value. It is something no one had seen before and it is therefore impossible to determine the price I paid for. If asked, I would say that I paid only S$500.00 (approx US$250.00, then). From experience, if I were to tell the actual price I paid, I would be ridiculed by the various experts and specialists around, at that time. ‘Nobody wants a Corum watch and you are just wasting your money!’ and this was their opinion.

As for a Rolex watch, generally it is not that easy to hide its used or second-hand value, since it is a common knowledge, in view of its popularity. That being the reason, I have always worn my Seamaster Calendar in stainless-steel, since when purchasing it second-hand by chance, I myself did not know its rarity though not expensive, till many years later. Of course, some may say that my opinion about the rarity of this watch as absurd. Their argument may seem to be correct, if it is based on the number of Seamaster Calendar watches, listed on eBay, day in and day out.

While wearing the Corum, occasionally, I have got offers but of course, they were very far below what I paid for. It is a watch I would not want to sell, since apparently only 175 examples were ever produced in 1976 to commemorate the US bicentennial (1776 – 1976). It was by sheer good luck, I got hold of another one, while I was in Sydney.

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