Rolex - The Watch Auction: One Geneva Saturday, May 9, 2015 | Phillips
  • Manufacturer: Rolex
    Year: 1953
    Reference No: 6062, 6063 also stamped inside the case back and then struck through by Rolex
    Movement No: N32729 and 00055
    Case No: 788'652
    Material: 18k pink gold
    Calibre: Automatic, 9 3/4'''
    Bracelet/Strap: 18k pink gold Rolex Jubilee
    Clasp/Buckle: Folding deployant clasp, stamped 1. 53
    Dimensions: 37mm. Diameter
    Signed: Case, dial and movement signed
    Literature: For another example of reference 6062 in pink gold with the same dial configuration, please see 100 Superlative Rolex Watches, by John Goldberger, pages 140 to 141.

  • Catalogue Essay

    The Rolex reference 6062 takes a unique position within the firm’s history as it is one of only two ever made models featuring a triple calendar with phases of the moon. Whereas the other model, reference 8171, is cased in a snap-on-back (non-water-resitant) case, reference 6062 has the firm’s signature Oyster case.Reference 6062 made in a very small number during the early 1950’s was only available in steel, yellow gold or pink gold. An educated count amongst scholars reveals that today no more than a dozen of examples have ever been offered at public auction during the last 35 years. Furthermore, only two dials version for the pink gold version are known today: the “Stelline”, featuring applied star-shaped hour markers and the present dial design, featuring arabic numerals at the 3 and 5 o’clock position and facetted lozenge-shaped markers. Of this type, the present watch and only one other example (published in John Goldberger’s 100 Superlative Rolex Watches, p. 140 & 141) are known today, making it the rarest rose gold version and one of the rarest Rolex watches in absolute terms.The example offered here was for decades the cherished property of a Swiss family, the second owners since the watch’s production. Sold at auction precisely ten years ago (Christie’s Geneva, Important Pocketwatches and Wristwatches, 16.5.2005, lot 195), it has since then been in an important private collection. According to our knowledge, the second long-term owners serviced the watch only once in the late 1970’s, a fact supported by the watchmaker’s mark inside the case back. Since then, the watch has not been serviced or been exposed to polishing. The original pink gold bracelet, with year stamp 53 inside the clasp, is still present and in overall very good condition, proof of how little wear this watch has seen. Very important to the discerning collector is also the fact that the numbers in between the lugs are sill crisp – in this instance they are close to perfect.It is the aim of most avid Rolex collectors to one day acquire a well preserved and correct example of reference 6062, only few dare wishing for a rose gold specimen. The present example does indeed represent a very rare opportunity to fulfil such a dream – for experienced and novice collectors alike.

  • Artist Biography

    Rolex

    Swiss • 1905

    Founded in 1905 England by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis as Wilsdorf & Davis, it soon became known as the Rolex Watch Company in 1915, moving its headquarters to Geneva in 1919. Like no other company, the success of the wristwatch can be attributed to many of Rolex's innovations that made them one of the most respected and well-known of all luxury brands. These innovations include their famous "Oyster" case — the world's first water resistant and dustproof watch case, invented in 1926 — and their "Perpetual" — the first reliable self-winding movement for wristwatches launched in 1933. They would form the foundation for Rolex's Datejust and Day-Date, respectively introduced in 1945 and 1956, but also importantly for their sports watches, such as the Explorer, Submariner and GMT-Master launched in the mid-1950s.

    One of its most famous models is the Cosmograph Daytona. Launched in 1963, these chronographs are without any doubt amongst the most iconic and coveted of all collectible wristwatches. Other key collectible models include their most complicated vintage watches, including references 8171 and 6062 with triple calendar and moon phase, "Jean Claude Killy" triple date chronograph models and the Submariner, including early "big-crown" models and military-issued variants.

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Ref. 6062, 6063 also stamped inside the case back and then struck through by Rolex
A very rare and very attractive pink gold triple calendar wristwatch with bracelet and moon phases

1953
37mm. Diameter
Case, dial and movement signed

Estimate
CHF250,000 - 450,000 

Sold for CHF1,001,000

Contact Specialist
Nathalie Monbaron
+41 22 317 81 83

The Watch Auction: One

Geneva Auction 10 May 2015 6:30pm