T
his white gold Vacheron Constantin (above),
one of just 10 watches produced in 2007 to
mark the 50th anniversary of the launch of
Sputnik 1, sold for €84,500 (c. £78,000) when it
crossed the block in Monaco in July. Featuring an
open-worked dial topped with a miniature rendition
of the Soviet satellite and its four antennae, the watch
was originally sold through Vacheron Constantin’s
Moscow boutique—the only outlet where the model
was made available. Sputnik 1 is credited with kicking
off the Space Age, despite remaining in orbit for just
three weeks before its trio of batteries went flat. Part
of its extensive legacy includes the coining of the word
“beatnik” by San Francisco journalist Herb Caen.FA M I LY A F FA I RÊ
Values of vintage Vacheron
Constantin watches are on the
up following the sale of two
examples for six-figure sums. In
May, Phillips Geneva achieved a
world record CHF740,000
(c. £625,000) for a 1940,
cushion- cased minute repeater
known as the “Don Pancho”
(right) after its original owner,
Francisco Martinez Llano. The
watch remained in his family
for more than 60 years before
being restored by Vacheron
Constantin’s heritage department
and offered for sale. Meanwhile,
at its June auction in New York,
Christie’s drew $356,250 (around
£293,000) for a 1954 Vacheron
minute repeater that had also
been in single family ownership.Plane Sailing
I N THE (SPU T)NIK OF TIME
Soviet technician works
on Sputnik 1, 1957KEYSTONE-FRANCE/GAMMA-KEYSTONE VIA GETTY IMAGES (HYDROPLANE); SOVFOTO/UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGES(SPUTNIK); THE PRINT COLLECTOR/PRINT COLLECTOR/GETTY IMAGES(QUEEN MARY); NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA (BARTELL)Ê
This nicely preserved Patek Philippe dress watch was
presented to French naval aviator Henri-Laurent Daillière for his
record-breaking seaplane flight when, between June 22 and 23, 1935,
he travelled the 2,700 miles from Cherbourg to Ziguinchor in
Senegal. Lieutenant Daillière, who was awarded the Légion
d’Honneur at the young age of 28, subsequently died while flying a
reconnaissance aircraft near Freetown, Sierra Leone, in October
- His watch sold for €9,100 (c. £8,400) in Monaco on July 16.
RIGHT ON QÊ
A 1971 Omega Speedmaster
that was worn by outback
adventurer Denis Bartell (above)
when he walked 245 miles across
Australia’s fiery Simpson Desert
in 1984 fetched £2,500 on July 20
at London auction house Watches
of Knightsbridge, accompanied
by a copy of correspondence and
a photograph of Bartell wearing
the watch at the end of his solo,
unaided walk. Bartell, who was
born in 1933, later walked right
across Australia.JUST DESERTSStopwatch Auction Report
By Simon de Burton
VANITY FAIR ON TIME AUTUMN 2019A miniature table clock
made by the
celebrated 17th-
century horologist
Thomas Tompion sold
for a gargantuan
£1.93million when it
crossed the block at
Bonhams during the
summer. The clock,
which is 19.7cm in
height, was made for
Queen Mary II in 1693,
and is known as the Q
clock (for Queen) as it
was paired with a
larger campaign clock
made for King William
III (the K clock). The
last time it appeared at
auction in 1993 it
fetched £400,000.26