Latest news with #Reiser
NBC News
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- NBC News
A rare platinum Rolex is heading to auction and could fetch $1.7 million
A legendary timepiece is about to step into the spotlight. A 1999 platinum Rolex Daytona is heading to auction on Sunday at Sotheby's Geneva, and could sell for up to $1.7 million. The watch is made from platinum, a material Rolex did not use on Daytona models until 2013. Its face is mother-of-pearl, set with 10 diamonds. Unlike nearly every other Rolex on the market, it was not part of a standard collection. It was privately commissioned, custom-made for a client — something almost unheard of for Rolex. 'It's very unusual to come across a commission,' said Pedro Reiser, senior watch specialist at Sotheby's. 'There are other brands which might be more flexible and do these kinds of exercises, maybe on a regular basis — but not in the space of Rolex pieces where you barely can come across any commission whatsoever.' Only four of these watches are known to exist, made for the same family, each with a different dial. The watch heading to the auction block is the last one to be sold. The others have already gone for massive prices, topping $3 million. There is big hype around this small work of metal. It is believed to have been created under the leadership of Patrick Heiniger, Rolex's CEO from 1992 to 2008. He ran the company during a time of major growth and secrecy and helped turn Rolex from a respected watch brand into a global luxury icon. While rumors have swirled that Heiniger personally commissioned or wore a similar platinum Daytona, Reiser cautions that there is no confirmed link to this watch. 'That's more of a rumor,' Reiser said. 'Personally, I've never seen him with this piece, but I know that he used to love platinum watches — mainly Day-Date models. It's a nice story that accompanies the watch, but I think it's more of a myth.' The fact that Rolex made a platinum Daytona in 1999, long before it introduced platinum models publicly in 2013, is a major part of the watch's mystique. 'Back then, they only existed in stainless steel, yellow gold and white gold,' Reiser said. 'Having a platinum — the only known platinum Zenith Daytona — is very special.' This particular model stands apart even from its siblings. 'This is the only one that has a diamond-set dial,' Reiser said. 'The others had dark mother-of-pearl, lapis lazuli and turquoise stone dials, but no diamonds.' As more people, especially wealthy collectors and younger buyers, increasingly see rare watches as investments, the prices of these rare timepieces have climbed. According to Knight Frank's latest index, watches have jumped more than 125% in value over the past decade, ranking them among the top-performing luxury investments, just behind rare whisky and high-end designer furniture. Even after a slight cooling, with prices rising only 1.7% over the past year, the five-year growth rate for watches of 52.7% signals the category remains a reliable long-term play. Demand has only broadened, with more international buyers and a wave of under-30 collectors entering the market, Reiser said.
Business Mayor
12-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
A rare platinum Rolex is heading to auction and could fetch $1.7 million
A rare 1999 platinum Rolex Daytona featuring a mother-of-pearl dial with diamond hour markers — one of only four known to exist. Courtesy of Sotheby's A legendary timepiece is about to step into the spotlight. A 1999 platinum Rolex Daytona is heading to auction on Sunday at Sotheby's Geneva, and could sell for up to $1.7 million. The watch is made from platinum, a material Rolex did not use on Daytona models until 2013. Its face is mother-of-pearl, set with 10 diamonds. Unlike nearly every other Rolex on the market, it was not part of a standard collection. It was privately commissioned, custom-made for a client — something almost unheard of for Rolex. 'It's very unusual to come across a commission,' said Pedro Reiser, senior watch specialist at Sotheby's. 'There are other brands which might be more flexible and do these kinds of exercises, maybe on a regular basis — but not in the space of Rolex pieces where you barely can come across any commission whatsoever.' Only four of these watches are known to exist, made for the same family, each with a different dial. The watch heading to the auction block is the last one to be sold. The others have already gone for massive prices, topping $3 million. There is big hype around this small work of metal. It is believed to have been created under the leadership of Patrick Heiniger, Rolex's CEO from 1992 to 2008. He ran the company during a time of major growth and secrecy and helped turn Rolex from a respected watch brand into a global luxury icon. Read More How to take a super-low budget holiday While rumors have swirled that Heiniger personally commissioned or wore a similar platinum Daytona, Reiser cautions that there is no confirmed link to this watch. 'That's more of a rumor,' Reiser said. 'Personally, I've never seen him with this piece, but I know that he used to love platinum watches — mainly Day-Date models. It's a nice story that accompanies the watch, but I think it's more of a myth.' The fact that Rolex made a platinum Daytona in 1999, long before it introduced platinum models publicly in 2013, is a major part of the watch's mystique. 'Back then, they only existed in stainless steel, yellow gold and white gold,' Reiser said. 'Having a platinum — the only known platinum Zenith Daytona — is very special.' Rolex didn't begin producing platinum Daytonas until 2013, making this 1999 custom-ordered timepiece a historic anomaly in the brand's legacy. Courtesy of Sotheby's This particular model stands apart even from its siblings. 'This is the only one that has a diamond-set dial,' Reiser said. 'The others had dark mother-of-pearl, lapis lazuli and turquoise stone dials, but no diamonds.' As more people, especially wealthy collectors and younger buyers, increasingly see rare watches as investments, the prices of these rare timepieces have climbed. According to Knight Frank's latest index, watches have jumped more than 125% in value over the past decade, ranking them among the top-performing luxury investments, just behind rare whisky and high-end designer furniture. Even after a slight cooling, with prices rising only 1.7% over the past year, the five-year growth rate for watches of 52.7% signals the category remains a reliable long-term play. Demand has only broadened, with more international buyers and a wave of under-30 collectors entering the market, Reiser said.
CNBC
10-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
A rare platinum Rolex is heading to auction and could fetch $1.7 million
A legendary timepiece is about to step into the spotlight. A 1999 platinum Rolex Daytona is heading to auction on Sunday at Sotheby's Geneva, and could sell for up to $1.7 million. The watch is made from platinum, a material Rolex did not use on Daytona models until 2013. Its face is mother-of-pearl, set with 10 diamonds. Unlike nearly every other Rolex on the market, it was not part of a standard collection. It was privately commissioned, custom-made for a client — something almost unheard of for Rolex. "It's very unusual to come across a commission," said Pedro Reiser, senior watch specialist at Sotheby's. "There are other brands which might be more flexible and do these kinds of exercises, maybe on a regular basis — but not in the space of Rolex pieces where you barely can come across any commission whatsoever." Only four of these watches are known to exist, made for the same family, each with a different dial. The watch heading to the auction block is the last one to be sold. The others have already gone for massive prices, topping $3 million. There is big hype around this small work of metal. It is believed to have been created under the leadership of Patrick Heiniger, Rolex's CEO from 1992 to 2008. He ran the company during a time of major growth and secrecy and helped turn Rolex from a respected watch brand into a global luxury icon. The Inside Wealth newsletter by Robert Frank is your weekly guide to high-net-worth investors and the industries that serve them. Subscribe here to get access today. While rumors have swirled that Heiniger personally commissioned or wore a similar platinum Daytona, Reiser cautions that there is no confirmed link to this watch. "That's more of a rumor," Reiser said. "Personally, I've never seen him with this piece, but I know that he used to love platinum watches — mainly Day-Date models. It's a nice story that accompanies the watch, but I think it's more of a myth." The fact that Rolex made a platinum Daytona in 1999, long before it introduced platinum models publicly in 2013, is a major part of the watch's mystique. "Back then, they only existed in stainless steel, yellow gold and white gold," Reiser said. "Having a platinum — the only known platinum Zenith Daytona — is very special." This particular model stands apart even from its siblings. "This is the only one that has a diamond-set dial," Reiser said. "The others had dark mother-of-pearl, lapis lazuli and turquoise stone dials, but no diamonds." As more people, especially wealthy collectors and younger buyers, increasingly see rare watches as investments, the prices of these rare timepieces have climbed. According to Knight Frank's latest index, watches have jumped more than 125% in value over the past decade, ranking them among the top-performing luxury investments, just behind rare whisky and high-end designer furniture. Even after a slight cooling, with prices rising only 1.7% over the past year, the five-year growth rate for watches of 52.7% signals the category remains a reliable long-term play. Demand has only broadened, with more international buyers and a wave of under-30 collectors entering the market, Reiser said.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'It was dumb luck:' Bought for $4k, Wayne Gretzky stick sells for $82.55k
During an auction of sports memorabilia at Grey Flannel last spring, Doug Reiser was looking to buy a game-used Wayne Gretzky stick. He wanted one from early in Gretzky's career and was bidding on four separate sticks from the first few seasons of the Great One's time with the Edmonton Oilers. Advertisement None of them were attributed to a specific game, but three of them quickly got more expensive than Reiser wanted, so he settled on the cheapest, which was credited to the 1981-82 season. Reiser paid $3,775 for that stick in June 2024. Around a month later, much to his surprise, he was able to match the stick to a photo from the game in which Gretzky broke Phil Esposito's single-season record of 76 goals. The stick has been photo-matched by MeiGray to Gretzky's record-setting game. (Credit: Sotheby's) Less than a year later, armed with this new information, he has consigned the stick to Sotheby's, where it sold Tuesday night for $82,550. 'It was dumb luck,' Reiser told cllct. Shortly after he won the original auction, Reiser decided he would try to photo-match it. Noticing the stick was not only signed by Gretzky, but also Gilbert Perreault, Reiser looked for photos of Grezky's Oilers playing Perrault's Sabres during the 1981-82 season. Advertisement Then he found an image from the Feb. 24, 1982, game that appeared to be a match. 'Man, all these marks line up,' Reiser said. 'Then I googled the date … and I'm like 'Oh my God.'' Gretzky not only passed Esposito's record, but notched a hat trick during the game against the Buffalo Sabres — all in the third period. Perreault also had a hat trick in the game, which the Oilers won 6-3. Bidding on the lot, which does not have a reserve price, is currently at $20,000 with more than a week remaining in the auction. Last year, Sotheby's set a record with another Gretzky stick, used in the Oilers' 1988 Stanley Cup-clinching game, selling it for $336,000 — the highest price ever paid for an NHL hockey stick at public auction. Advertisement The stick from Gretzky's final game sold for $140,000 in 2022. As Alexander Ovechkin closes in on Gretzky's career goal record, the auction will test the market to see if interest in NHL memorabilia is peaking accordingly. Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Holocaust victims, survivors honored at remembrance ceremony
Nov. 9, 1938, was Karl Reiser's birthday, but Reiser didn't spend that night celebrating. He spent the night hiding for his life as mobs descended on Vienna, burning and pillaging Jewish-owned stores, homes and synagogues. 'The synagogue where my grandparents were married was burnt to the ground by 11 a.m.,' said Cindy Silverman Chronister, Reiser's granddaughter, said of the aftermath of Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass. Before Kristallnacht, Reiser, like all Jews in Nazi Germany, had already been forced out of his job, banned from public spaces, and made to carry a passport stamped with the letter 'J.' But despite the abuses he suffered at the hands of the Nazis, Reiser was able to escape what Kristallnacht foreshadowed. He and his wife Mathilda Reiser fled to England in 1939 and eventually made their way to the United States. Those who did not survive the ensuing genocide were honored at a ceremony April 23, which is Yom HaShoah—Holocaust Remembrance Day. 'Today we celebrate our survival and our strength, even as we honor our lost,' said Vicki Haller Graff, program director at the Jewish Federation of Reading/Berks. 'Tonight we remember real people…We will take inspiration from their resilience, and the strength of those who stood up for each other in the most difficult of circumstances.' The service at the Jewish Cultural Center in Wyomissing featured a lighting of memorial candles by the descendants of holocaust survivors. One of those descendants was Silverman Chronister, of Sinking Spring, who shared the contents of a box of photos she said her grandparents never spoke about. The photos depicted memories from the Reisers' time in Vienna and their escape to England, the story of which Silverman Chronister relayed. Cindy Silverman Chronister shares stories and photos depicting her grandparents' escape from Nazi-occupied Vienna. (Keith Dmochowski – Reading Eagle) She noted that Karl Reiser was able to escape through an emergency rescue mission to Kitchener Refugee Camp in Richborough, England. Silverman Chronister said she thinks Reiser was chosen for the mission because he was an electrician, and the former military barracks had no electricity or running water upon his arrival. '(Jewish refugees at Kitchener) could not be employed, nor would England provide any financial assistance,' Reiser said. 'These refugees were forbidden to speak their native language, and my grandfather was expected to work long hours maintaining the camp.' Mathilda Reiser was eventually able to escape Vienna as well, but not before being left penniless by the Nazis, who charged her an exorbitant departure 'tax' and stole her luggage. 'She arrived (in England) with almost nothing, no money, no English, and no one to help her,' Silverman Chronister said. Six weeks after Mathilda Reiser fled, World War II broke out, and all immigration was halted. 'Had my grandmother not obtained a job in England, and her visa not come when it did, I might not be standing here today,' Silverman Chronister said. In 1932, there were 200,000 Jews living in Vienna, but in 1942, only 800 remained. Silverman Chronister noted that her grandparents rarely spoke about life in Vienna, but through her own research, she was able to discover eight of her great grandfather's relatives who were killed in concentration camps. Even after enduring tragedy, the Reisers refused to abandon the values of 'tikkun olam,' meaning 'repairing the world,' a Jewish concept that emphasizes social action. 'After the war, they sent care packages to their struggling non-Jewish friends in Vienna,' Silverman Chronister said. 'They donated to Jewish causes and honored their murdered family members by supporting memorials at concentration camps…In choosing compassion, they showed that even in the face of darkness, kindness is a form of resistance.' The ceremony also featured a reading of the names of Holocaust victims who have family members in the local community. 'In a time when antisemitism is rising around the world, and voices of division and intolerance grow louder, our presence here is an act of resilience,' said Brian Chartock, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Reading/Berks. 'It is a statement that memory matters, and that justice, compassion and dignity are not negotiable.'
