Christie's has completed its sale of Important Watches with a wide range of watches going under the hammer from IWC, Piaget and especially Patek Philippe.
However, there was only one watch which was going to grab the headlines - and rightly so: how much more important can you get than a watch which is likely to save you from ravenous sharks (or was it ill-tempered sea bass?) - James Bond's Live and Let Die Rolex.
In the film, the 'magnetic' wristwatch had been converted from a stainless steel Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner timepiece by 'Q Branch'. It is almost certainly the most memorable Submariner to appear in movies and must be considered a timeless piece not only for the watch fan but also for film and James Bond collectors in general.
 James Bond's 'magnetic' Rolex with circular saw clearly visible (Great in a crisis; terrible for shirtsleeves) |
Especially designed for James Bond to be worn during 007's mission in Live and Let Die, it was created in 1972 by the world-famous film production designer Syd Cain, a British production designer who worked on more than 30 films, including four in the James Bond series in the 1960s and 1970s.
Featuring not only a bezel spinning at high speed to cut ropes and chains, in the movie it also bore an ultra-strong magnet which was supposed to neutralise bullets but was first used by 007 to unzip Miss Caruso's dress. Both 'complications' were used in the final showdown with the dastardly Kananga.
It sold within the expected range at CHF219,000 ($242,500). The James Bond franchise is still going strong, with the name of the latest Bond movie, Skyfall, recently announced.
The earlier movies are hardly being left behind, either. In Christie's sale of classic movie posters in June earlier this year, a poster for the classic James Bond movie Diamonds are Forever (1971) topped the bill, selling for £79,250 ($129,970) to an American collector.
 This signed photo of Daniel Craig is available right now (Click here to find our more) |
We've sold various pieces of James Bond memorabilia in recent months, but there are a few great pieces in our stock which might make a James Bond collector's Christmas all the merrier: signed photos of Daniel Craig and Roger Moore. Sean Connery's autograph is also available.
Despite the fascination of Bond, we should mention the top lot in the sale, especially as it performed so brilliantly: this was an extraordinarily fine and rare 18K pink gold automatic perpetual calendar wristwatch with moon phases, original certificate and box by Patek Philippe.
The reference 3448 was made in 1968, and was listed at a more than respectable CHF500,000-1,000,000, but in fact doubled its top estimate to bring CHF2,099,000 ($2.3m).
If all this talk of fine Swiss watches is making your arm feel a little naked, you might like to take a look at this fine Longines Men's Olympic watch too.
