From The Vault: 6 Insane Vintage Watches to Buy Right Now
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With the holiday season quickly approaching, we suggest considering some of these unusual and rare vintage timepieces for a loved one…or yourself. Our new online luxury shop The Vault by Robb Report has plenty of wrist candy to round out any collection or start one.
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Here, you’ll find everything from a Tiffany & Co.-signed Rolex and a Patek Philippe annual calendar with rare luminous Roman numerals to a funky diamond Day-Date “President.” There’s also a steel Rolex DateJust with a fetching navy sodalite dial. All feature a twist on Patek and Rolex’s most-coveted models, which is just the kind of thing that makes a collection shine.
Below, explore six lust-worthy watches available only at The Vault.
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Patek Philippe Annual Calendar Ref. 5035-G, Circa 2004
Price: $31,500
Patek Philippe is the father of the annual calendar complication, having invented the complication in 1996. The mechansim could tell the difference between months 30 and 31 days and adjust the date accordingly, so that the wearer only had to correct the date manually once a year in February. It served as a more accessible and, relatively speaking, less expensive alternative to the perpetual calendar.
This 37 mm 18-karat white gold example with rare luminous roman numerals, was one of the last of the 5035 references to come off the production line. It comes with a rare slate dial, and the days and months written in Italian abbreviations. It was retailed by Rocca S.p.A. in 2004 and comes with its original paperwork.
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Rolex Tiffany-Signed Day-Date, Circa 1979
Price: $27,950
This original 36 mm 18-karat yellow gold Rolex Day-Date comes with a coveted Tiffany & Co.-signed dial and is in pristine condition having never been polished. Its lines remain sharp including along the case feet. The watch’s hallmarks are still visible on the case back, and the bracelet is still very tight with little snag. It comes on its original bracelet with a full signature on the deployant buckle, along with corresponding model numbers on the inside of the end links.
Tiffany & Co.-signed Rolex dials continue to fetch a premium on the secondary market as Rolex and Tiffany ended their co-branded watches in the early ’90s.
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Rolex Day-Date ‘Pleiades,’ Circa 1984
Price: $59,000
Here we have a graphic and ultra-cool 36 mm Rolex Day-Date in 18-karat yellow gold with an untouched factory diamond dial and bezel. The hour marker diamonds are accentuated by larger gold claw settings. There is little to no polishing and the “18K” Rolex stamps and Swiss pionçon controls marks are deep and visible. It comes on a fully signed deployant buckle bracelet with the corresponding marks and correct model numbers on the inside links. Even the original factory solid-18-karat-gold spring bars are present.
Vintage Day-Dates have become hugely popular and with the rise of design-forward dials, this piece is a double whammy for collectors.
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Patek Philippe Pagoda Ref. 5500J, Circa 1997
Price: $21,950
This 41 by 26 mm Patek Philippe Pagoda Ref. 5500J is one of 1,100 made in 18-karat yellow gold to herald the opening of a new workshop—the consolidation of 12 different ateliers scattered throughout Geneva—in 1996. Fit with the caliber 215 PS, a manually wound chronometer with small seconds, the timepiece markes the first time in watchmaking history that C.O.S.C (Switzerland’s official chronometer certification bureau) and the Geneva Seal Authority issued a joint individual rating for a watch.
It comes with its original Patek Philippe card packaging and an extract from the archive.
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Rolex Datejust Ref. 16238 with Diamond Onyx Dial, Circa 1991
Price: $31,895
This 36 mm 18-karat yellow gold Rollie features a rather unusual and striking dial in onyx with just two Arabic numeral markers—one for the 6 and one for the 9—each punctuated with a diamond. This kind of dial was made by Rolex just for a few years at the beginning of the ’90s, and in very limited quantities.
It features a nonluminous dial with 18-karat yellow gold original hands. Beneath the surface it is equipped with the caliber 3135 movement used in many Rolex models since its launch in 1988. It also features the more ergonomic Quick Set date function and newly designed smaller-profile case introduced in the ’70s and the case features spring-bar holes exposed from the side—a feature that was phased out in the mid to late ’90s.
This is a full-set piece, so it comes with its original plastic bezel protector, outer box, innner box, and punched papers. There are six removable links so it can be made smaller.
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Rolex DateJust Ref. 16234 with Sodalite Diamond Dial, Circa 2000
Price: $16,750
Sodalite is a rich royal blue mineral gemstone said to have healing properties that promote peace and tranquility. Whether or not you buy into that, it should certainly strike up desire for its beauty. This Rolex DateJust Ref. 16234 sodalite dial has flecks of darker hues throughout giving the piece depth and subtle intrigue. It is accented with diamond hour markers.
The dial of the 36 mm steel piece also remains untouched and in pristine condition—a rarity due to the fragile nature of stone dials. It comes with its original bracelet with deployant buckle and Rolex plastic tag with serial-number sticker and wax-seal tag.
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