COURTESY OF PHILLIPS/PHILLIPS.COM (BACS)
Aurel Bacs ZENITH EL PRIMERO by Nicholas Foulkes
E
arlier this year I was speaking
to a watch expert at a major
auction house and he spoke of
the “nuclear power” of Aurel Bacs. I
like Aurel, he is good company, a
great showman and a true lover of
watches, but to hear a rival speak of
him in that way is to understand
his historical importance in the
development of watch collecting
during the 21st century.
He achieved the highest
price for a wristwatch at
auction when he sold Paul
Newman’s Paul Newman
Rolex Daytona (US$17
million and change).
Moreover, out of the top
five wristwatches sold at
auction, he brought the
gavel down on four of them.
And even though he was
not destined to sell the most
expensive portable timepiece
of all time, the fabled Patek
Philippe Henry Graves
Supercomplication pocket
watch, he acted on behalf of the
successful anonymous bidder
securing this horological masterpiece
for just shy of CHF23.25 million at the
auction held by Sotheby’s in 2014.
With his lavish sales catalogues
characterised by their lengthy lot
essays and exigent photography, he has
pioneered a new form of horological
publishing: the coffee-table catalogue.
To see him at his best it is
necessary to attend one of his
auctions in his home town of Geneva,
where twice a year the hotel La
Réserve witnesses the construction of
a temporary structure the size of an
aircraft hangar to accommodate
auctions that are part rock concert,
part evangelical religious gathering.
Seeing him in action (right), switching
effortlessly between French, English,
Italian and German, is like watching
Roger Federer play tennis, or like
listening to Valery Gergiev conducting
Tchaikovsky; as he bats the bids back
and forth around the room and raisesthe emotional pitch of the bidders.
This autumn’s sale may be his
most emotional yet as he auctions a
watch of his own design. Only those
in a coma can have failed to note that
this is the 50th anniversary of the
Zenith El Primero, the highly
advanced, high-frequency, self-
winding chronograph on which themodern reputation of the marque is
founded. Casting about for a suitable
way of bringing this momentous year
to its close, Zenith CEO Julien
Tornare, in an inspired act of genius,
invited Bacs to design and then sell
the ultimate El Primero, a one-off
timepiece that would stir the
emotions of the collecting community
and honour the legacy of what is
arguably the most widely known
watch movement.
The pressure of reworking what is,
in effect, a monument in the
watchmaking landscape and then
being responsible for its sale to benefit
a children’s cancer charity can only be
imagined. I might have chosen a less
public way in which to begin my
career as a watch designer, but then I
am not Aurel Bacs.
Although at the time of writing
work is not complete, this unique
lapis-lazuli dialled, reverse panda,
platinum-cased version of the original
A386 looks stunning. Based on his
debut I hope that in the near future we
can expect to see further examples inmore affordable executions of what I
have the great satisfaction of being the
first to call “the Aurel Bacs El Primero”.
As I mention, not everything is yet
decided, for example there is some
debate as to whether to offer the
watch on a calfskin strap or a bracelet
akin to the Gay Frères original (the
latter is better obvs). However, one
thing I do know for absolute certain is
that—whatever strap it comes on—I
will not be able to afford it.
The Aurel Bacs Zenith El Primero will
be auctioned on November 9-10, 2019
at La Réserve, Geneva, by Bacs himselfHis auctions are
part rock concert,
part evangelical
religious gathering
To p : Julien Tornare and Romain
Marietta from Zenith at work
with Aurel Bacs and Alexandre
Ghotbi from Phillips on the one-
off El Primero (left) to mark the
model’s 50th anniversaryAUTUMN 2019 VANITY FAIR ON TIMEStopwatch News Report Exclusive
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