The well-known Rolex collector Pucci Papaleo has chased something rarer than popularity and value, instead he has built a serious vault around the evolution of the Rolex chronograph. Going under the hammer on November 7 and 8 in Geneva, alongside the GPHG awards and the resulting lakeside swarm of watch lovers, is an important collection of pieces from The Crown. Assembled over more than three decades by the Rome-based collector, publisher, and Rolex scholar, the Pucci Papaleo Collection is not just focused on hypebeasts like the Paul Newman Daytonas, though they are also present, it also traces ultra-rare experimental cases of the 1930s through manual-winding Daytonas of the 1970s. Exhibiting a scholarly focus few private collections can match, Part I of Papaleo’s curated Rolex history, 16 watches strong, goes under the hammer at the Geneva Watch Auction XXIV.
The auction will take place at Hotel President and headed by the inimitable Aurel Bacs, as close as we can get to a superstar auctioneer, and Livia Russo, both senior consultants at Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo. They have previously partnered with him on 2013’s Daytona Lesson One and 2018’s Daytona Ultimatum, both record-setting sales. “Pucci has spent more than 30 years pursuing knowledge and perfection in shaping his collection of Rolex chronographs,” they said in a joint press statement. “But his contribution goes far beyond collecting. Through his books, his photography, and his willingness to share what he has learned, he has helped give generations of collectors the tools to understand these watches. In fact, he has played a significant role in bringing Rolex to the position it occupies in the collecting world today.”
Big words from the auctioneers, but a studied eye shows in every lot. These first 16 watches show a rigorous emphasis on condition, rarity, and originality, and collectors will no doubt want a close look as the watches go on a pre-auction tour of Dubai, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Riyadh, and London before returning to Geneva. Highlights from the collection, where the standard is high enough to undoubtedly make headlines the day of the sale, are below.
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Lot 99, Ref. 3525 “Bariletto” (circa 1940, estimate CHF 250,000 to 500,000)
Image Credit: Archivio Pucci Papaleo Introduced in 1939, the ref. 3525 was nothing less than Rolex’s first Oyster-cased chronograph, this steel example carries the only known Prouds of Sydney signature (the Australian retailer) on the reference, paired with a rare rice-grain bracelet. The warm, almost vanilla, color of the two-tone dial is offset by a case in crisp condition, where both steps of the bezel remain much more defined than what is usually seen on this reference.
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Lot 208, Ref. 3830 (circa 1941, estimate in excess of CHF 1,000,000)
Image Credit: Archivio Pucci Papaleo This ref. 3830 comes in an unusual square 18 karat-gold case juxtaposed by its circular dial center, most likely unique, and unseen at auction since 2004. This chronograph has its retailer signature from Verga in Milan intact and its champagne dial rcomes with distinctive Arabic numerals and tachymeter scale.
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Lot 131, Ref. 6264 “Paul Newman Lemon” (circa 1970, estimate in excess of CHF 1,000,000)
Image Credit: Archivio Pucci Papaleo In a collection as complete as Palucci Papaleo’s, there is of course a Rolex “Paul Newman” Daytona ref. 6264. This particular example is the only known 14-karat gold example from the coveted 2.3 million “Lemon” serial range, very likely the earliest to have come to market in this batch. The sharp condition of its warm gold case contrasts well with its creamy yellow dial which, with its black panda sub dials, remains one of the most coveted Daytona chronographs for collectors and this one remarkably preserved.
