Watches Online: The Driver’s Collection

In collaboration with Bob’s Watches, Sotheby’s presents Watches Online: The Driver’s Collection, a timeless group of 18 driving wristwatches. Since the 1960s, luxury watchmakers have created timepieces for the race car, drawing inspiration from the vehicles’ sleek dashboards. The link to the automobile continues in manufacturing today, and the auction celebrates this union of machinery with the finest names in luxury including Rolex, Omega, Heuer, and Phillipe Nautilus.  

 The extremely rare 1958 Big Crown James Bond Rolex Submariner with “Tropical” dial leads the collection and is the same type as one immortalized by Sean Connery’s 007. It was the Hollywood elite who truly cemented the desirability of the driving watch, and models also worn by mid-century movie stars are especially collectible.   

 Other rare watches include a 1974 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 6263, which was one of the last stainless steel Daytona chronographs in production, as well an Omega Speedmaster 2998 with “Tropical” dial from 1960. There are also watches with a modern provenance, including a near-perfect Patek Phillipe Nautilus ref. 3710/1A, which had a very limited run in the late 1990s and early 2000s. To view the complete luxury watch collection and register to bid, go to Sotheby’s.