Charlie Foxhall of Sotheby’s shows us his top 3 picks from “Important Watches”

In our second part of “Top Picks” from Sotheby’s “Important Watches,” we are now joined by Charlie Foxhall as he shares with us his top three watches from the sale.

Much like the first part, it seems like collectors are heading towards dressier complications, this too is backed by the recent Watches & Wonders where we saw several of the big new releases offered up in soft strap options over the customary metal bracelet. Tom Heap’s selects saw two from the Holy Trinity along with a Cartier Crash, and Foxhall’s picks, follow suit with entries from Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe, but change things up with a very interesting perpetual calendar minute repeater.

All three watches from Foxhall’s picks are more on the traditional side and are made with precious metal and matched with leather straps. He chose two perpetual calendars and two-minute repeaters based on his personal preferences, these are great pieces of history and examples of high horology at the time of their creation.

Foxhalls three picks can be found below:

Audemars Piguet –  25723 Minute Repeater Jumping Hour
The Audemars Piguet is a lot of fun as you see this Art Deco-style layout with a large jumping hour and small seconds. The symmetry really works in this case. This is something you wouldn’t really find in a modern-day AP, but it does show the direction of the watchmaker in the past, after all, AP created their first jump-hour wristwatch in 1921. This also demonstrates the manufacturer’s aptitude for making minute repeaters — something they have been doing for over a century.

Patek Philippe – 5020 A Perpetual Calendar Chronograph
A rare Perpetual Calendar from. Patek Philippe, the 5020 is called the Patek TV set by collectors due to its unorthodox case shape. This case shape turned buyers off at the time of its release, so not too many were produced. Launched in 1994, the 5020 was produced for eight years until discontinued in 2002. Like most things, this thing was only really appreciated after it had left the main roster of watches and has since become a highly sought-after watch in the world of watch collecting.

Franck Muller –  Pre-Brand Minute Repeating Perpetual Calendar
If you look closely at the watch, you will see it marked with “Franck” and “Geneve.” That’s an interesting detail as there’s only really one watchmaker that comes to mind when you see this Perpetual Calendar that’s also a minute repeater. This is classic Franck Muller, but not branded as such. This has led the research team to believe that it is a pre-branded Franck Muller created before the launch of his eponymous brand. What’s more is that this watch is also stamped with No.1 and “JHP” to denote prized casemaker, Jean-Pierre Hagmann.