Auction: Two Of The Rarest Sports Watches At Monaco Legend Group

Forbes

03-04-2025

Exclusive Timepieces auction.
The first auction season of 2025 is finally kicking off with none other than Monaco Legend Group's Exclusive Timepieces spring sale on April 26th and 27th. Enough with the intro, let's jump straight into two of the rarest and most collectable sports pieces from Rolex and Patek Philippe which will be making an appearance.
Lot 22 is an absolute gem for anyone following the vintage Rolex market. This GMT-Master is a reference 6542, the very reference for all the Rolex GMT-Master wristwatches. But there are two particularities on this example which make it a grade 1 tier above anything else we've seen before.
6542 with Albino white dial and steel insert. Exclusive Timepieces auction, lot 22, estimate between ... More EUR 120,000 and EUR 240,000.
Firstly is the distinct lack of Bakelite bezel which is what's usually most recognisable on a 6542. This example with serial number 461,420 is part of the last batch and instead features a steel bezel which was supposedly introduced towards the very end of the lifespan of the 6542. Whilst the Bakelite was prone to cracking over the years, this steel insert has faded into a ghost like shade.
Faded steel insert.
Secondly and most importantly, this 6542 features not a black dial but a white Albino dial, which for many years remained a bit of a mystery due to its extreme rarity. Just to give you a little idea of exactly how rare these white dials are, EveryWatch displays well over 250 auction results for the 6542 and this is the first time an Albino has ever appeared. The radium lume on the hour markers and hands have developed a rich orange patina, which some people call Pumpkin or Caramel.
Aged radium lume present on the indexes and hands.
To top it off, this 6542 from 1959 was picked up by a Chilean Marine-Infantary soldier who kept it as he climbed through the ranks of the Armada de Chile and all the way until today. Basically, this is the first opportunity a bidding floor will have ever had to acquire not only a watch of this kind, but one with next level provenance dating back over six decades.
Chilean Marine Infantry soldier who has owned the watch until today. On the right he can be seen ... More sporting it like a true gent.
Next on the list lot 229, a Patek Philippe 5711 in steel with a blue dial. Just kidding, this is something seriously seriously stealthy, and the clue with Patek always lies in the vibrancy of the dial (I'll come back to this). This watch does look pretty ordinary as far as a 5711 goes, but that's where the beauty lies. As we all know, Patek Philippe unveiled the 5711 in steel around 2006 with a blue dial and Geneva Sealed calibre 315 SC, later transitioning to calibre 324 SC with the Patek Philippe Seal.
5711/1P-010 cased in platinum. Exclusive Timepieces auction, lot 229, estimate between EUR 400,000 ... More and EUR 800,000.
10 years later marked 40 years of the Nautilus, and Patek unveiled a 5711 in platinum with baguette indexes and a visible dial inscription to mark the occasion: 1967 -40- 2016. This featured a much brighter and more vivid blue dial compared to the regular steel version just to give it a subtle difference. What some people don't know is that the 5711 in platinum had existed before, and not too long before.
5711/1P-010
This is where the present watch at Monaco Legend Group comes in, as it was part of this limited series made for the upper crust of Patek collectors in as little as 10-20 examples. The dial had no baguette indexes or dial inscription, leaving just the vivid hue, platinum date window frame and tiny diamond in the case as a clue to how incredibly special this piece was. On the street, you'd likely spot none of those. This marks one of a handful of times this piece baring reference 5711/1p-010 has appeared at auction.