Heritage Auctions on 603 Battery Street in San Francisco, CA
The popular RedBar Group gatherings are a means for local watch collectors and enthusiasts to meet and share their passion for horology and showcase their latest acquisitions or entire collection. Primarily self-organized, RedBar events are held in various chapters across the world and hosted by local watch-related businesses.
For April, the local Bay Area chapter, RedBar SF, was back in San Francisco, but this time at an auction house: Heritage Auctions. I attended not expecting much except for meeting the regulars: Ken, Mario, Victor, Zach, and others, however, my low bar expectations were surpassed quickly.
Heritage Auctions of Dallas, Texas, holds two principal auctions per year and the first one for the year is scheduled for May 1st. In a small but central location in the financial district of San Francisco, the Heritage Auctions location is well lit and easily accessible on ground floor.
Upon entering the building and checking in with security we were quickly presented with a select group of watches from the May auction curated by Consignment Director Jonathon Burford. Along with a few colleagues, Jonathon was on site and ready to show any of the selections to each of us to view and hold and try on the wrist.
Rolex "Paul Newman" reverse panda ref. 6239 belonging to local collector and attendee
Among the selection you could see immediately were a Rolex "Paul Newman" Daytona "panda dial" ref. 6239 circa 1969 with original bracelet, a gold "root beer" ref. 1675 circa 1972 (belonging to actor James Darren) with gold bracelet and provenance letter, as well as various well aged vintage GMT Masters and Explorer models.
Besides a drooling group of expected Rolex vintage selection, Heritage Auctions also had some rare models from other brands like a Zenith "special" Military Pilot from circa 1930, a rare Blancpain Fifty Fathom Milspec case #2546 circa 1960s, and a super cool Heuer / Abercrombie & Fitch ref. 2443 "Straight Line Logo".
In a different display, were the Patek Philippe watches from classic Calatrava, to a Tiffany & Co. signed minute repeater pocket watch with original box, and perhaps my favorite of the lot, a super clean Jumbo Nautilus ref. 3710/1A in stainless steel with beautiful roman numeral dial.
Finally, part of the collection for May 1st that were there to show in San Francisco included a more esoteric group of watches like the blingy Jacob & Co. Astronomia Sky in rosé gold as well as an astonishing watch named Brilliant Skeleton with case full pavé of diamond baguette and with a hidden internal pavé of red ruby baguettes, also from the New York jewerlry designer to the stars.
After spending a few hours seeing and trying the watches in person. A group of us went to a local bar with the auction book dreaming about which model we'd want to bid on. Surprisingly Heritage is one of the top auctioneers in the United States opting for volume. Therefore, many of the lots are actually priced fairly to encourage bidding.
Fnd the selection that are shown in San Francisco (April 5th and 6th) and the remaining selection for May 1st online. Bidding can be done via mobile phone using the HERITAGELive app or HA.com/live site after registering for free membership.
You can also bid the old fashion way in person at the floor session in New York at 2 E. 79th Street or via phone (866)835-3243 or fax (214)409-1425. Contact the direct client service line: (866)835-3243 or email: bid@ha.com.
RedBar SF recently teamed up again with Leica Store SF for another watch meetup. This time, the event was planned to coincide with the Worn & Wound Wind^Up San Francisco fair that I introduced here. In this post I briefly summarize this event and primarily discuss the deep relationship that watch collecting has with cameras and in particular Leica cameras shooters and collectors.