https://www.forbes.com/sites/msolom...mpaign=sprinklrForbesMainTwitter#23f3e83a2209

 

Saw that. Very cool story! I’m doubtful this will go anywhere near Newman’s Daytona, but with the crazy prices at auctions these days, who knows!

 

Oh dear. The watch was restored by RSC... Guess we all know what happened ya.

 

Interesting article that expanded my knowledge. I was only aware of 1 McQueen model. That is the Explorer 2 with the large orange hand. I think the reference number has several 5s in it.

 

Right..and Orchi was already all over it on IG, for good reasons..

 

From the article:

With such a turbo-fueled watch market, Eisenberg knew that he would be able to sell the McQueen Submariner almost as quickly as he bought it. "When it finally dawned on me that I was never going to own the Newman watch," he says of his strategy to bring the Rolex to auction, "I reached out to Phillips and said, 'I've got your next hero watch.'"
[...]
The McQueen Submariner will have a low presale estimate—between $300,000 and $600,000—but so did Newman's Rolex, which was modestly expected to exceed $1 million. "My real estate background tells me that there's more air in the bubble," Eisenberg says of the astronomical auctions. "There's never been so much money out there. These sale prices are like telephone numbers." But, he continues, "I worked at Drexel back in the day and learned you can't call a top and you can't call a bottom."


So he thinks there's a bubble eh?

 

So the watch, which is not the Sub that McQueen was known to wear, but "another one" was set fire to, and what was left was restored by RSC... and now it's worth $300,000?

It's not that there's a bubble, it's that certain parts of the market are insane.

 

heck of a lot of money for a caseback with provenance, if you ask me!

 

People are crazy

 

Hi all,
Surely I can't be the only one to of noticed that when your average Joe Public sends a watch in to Rolex to be restored and serviced that Rolex keep all the original parts and fit new Luminova service dials and hands as that's just their way. Yet an old 5513 gets sent in and because their is a famous back story connection to it suddenly it gets restored with a Swiss T25 dial and nicely faded coloured bezel well at least we now know Rolex don't trash those old parts they just keep them for special people. Of course its obvious why Rolex are happy to do this as it pushes up prices of Rolex watches in auctions and their perceived value to the public. As that old writing genius once said " something is rotten in the state of Denmark" (Rolex).

Marc

 

There have been a few questions posted on Phillips instagram timeline asking about exactly what was done, and by whom... which they are ignoring.

To my mind, if you are going to tell an honest story, then you have to tell the whole story... and not skip over the bits that don't fit the narrative you're trying to sell.

I'm with you Marc... something is rotten... and smells like those awful stinky fish trapped in cans, and fed to unsuspecting foreigners... I may have crossed the border into Sweden...

 

Steve never owned nor has been pictured wearing the 1655 Orange hand explorer II. It got the nickname on an Italian forum.

 

In a fire and survived, we all know how Rolex went in the NASA temperature tests

 

He also wore a Rolex Speedking in The Great Escape. 29mm!!!! Something I don’t mind referencing anytime I hear someone say vintage watches are too small for a man to wear!

 

This will be interesting to watch. I believe incorrect dial for the reference, and really the only thing original is the case. The provenance is super shaky, and no clear cut proof that McQueen wore this piece. I am sure someone will buy, but I don't see it going into the stratosphere!

 

I would like to think so, but with the auction prices lately, nothing would surprise me!

 

Making the estimates would be frankly insane.

The shark has been jumped.

 

Oh come on guys...y’all are being too damn skeptical on this piece.

I heard that Phillips also is auctioning some of Steven McQeen’s used jockstraps...apparently came from the grandson of the towel guy at the LA YMCA where McQueen played squash...he is was a huge squash player. Unfortunately the jockstrap lost all of it’s elasticity, and has been replaced by a modern jockstrap of the same era. There are letters attesting to this, and a picture of McQueen playing squash, most likely wearing a jockstrap.

It could shatter the previous record of a jockstrap sold at auction...Christie’s set the record in 2015 with Charles Bronson’s jockstrap worn during the Mechanic...Bronson was another huge jockstrap fan.

 

I'd like to see the "after fire and before restoration" pictures. Does anyone think that a single piece of this other than the caseback is original at this point?

 

I would too! As a patina lover, curious to see what fire does to a dial... of course not offering one up one of mine for the experiment!