Watches that have been owned by prominent figures are sought after by collectors - but some of these famous watches are still missing! That is, they have been documented and photographed, but no one knows where they are today. Check out 5 of the most famous missing watches of all time.
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Transcript:
From SwissWatchExpo…
Spotlight on: five of the most famous missing watches. What happened to these watches, and where could they be?
If there are two qualities that can make the value of a watch skyrocket, they would be provenance and rarity.
Who wore it before, and how many of it are available?
Watches that have been owned by prominent figures are sought after by collectors for obvious reasons, even more so if there are only a few of those watches known to exist.
Some of these watches are still at large. That is, they have been documented and photographed, but no one knows where they are today.
Here are five of the most sought after missing watches of all time.
Let’s begin with the first watch on the moon – the Omega Speedmaster Professional, worn by astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
You probably already know the story of how it became the MoonWatch.
Aboard Apollo 11, during the first ever lunar mission, astronauts were given the Omega Speedmaster reference 105.012 (one oh five, oh one two) to monitor time.
Before setting foot on the moon, Neil Armstrong left his watch in the spacecraft, while Buzz Aldrin wore his Speedy as he stepped onto the lunar surface.
The rest, as they say, is history. The Speedy became known as the MoonWatch
When they returned from the mission, Buzz sent his Speedy to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington for archiving. Unfortunately, it was lost or stolen in transit.
Its whereabouts are still unknown, and it has eluded all attempts at recovery.
Many US Presidents have worn the Rolex President Day-Date, but it was Lyndon B. Johnson who really cemented the connection between the Rolex Day-Date, and the Oval Office.
Of course, “President” really refers to the three-link, hidden clasp bracelet of the Rolex Day-Date.
But after being seen on the wrist of then sitting President Johnson, the Rolex Day-Date quickly became known as the President’s watch.
In one of the last photographs of Beatle John Lennon before his death, he’s seen happily showing off a yellow gold Patek Philippe watch.
It’s not certain if he owned the timepiece, but many reports say that the watch was a present from his wife Yoko Ono, for his 40th birthday.
The said watch is a Patek Philippe Triple Date Moonphase reference 2499 (two four nine nine). On it’s own, it is a rare and highly valuable timepiece.
An extremely rare watch owned by a Beatle? Now that’s stuff of legends.
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Artist Pablo Picasso is known for his love of watches, and he wore three of them prominently is several of his famed portraits.
In this portrait taken by photographer Yousuf Karsh, he is seen wearing a Jaeger Lecoultre Triple Calendar from the 1940’s.
In another famous photo, Picasso is seen wearing an American Indian headdress, and an instantly recognizable stainless steel, black dial Rolex GMT Master on his wrist.
And the last watch he was photographed with is a Patek Philippe Reference 2497 (two four nine seven) – a triple-date moon phase with the digital month and day aperture windows.
The photographs of Picasso wearing these watches are also very valuable and sell for thousands.
However, the watches in them have been missing since Picasso’s death in 1978.
And finally we have one of the first wristwatches ever made – Alberto Santos Dumont’s Cartier watch, made especially for him by Louis Cartier himself.
Cartier designed the watch for the famous Brazilian aviator. Back then, pocket watches were still used to tell time – so Santos-Dumont requested for a watch that he can read clearly, even while navigating an aircraft.
The Cartier Santos-Dumont was first retailed in 1911, seven years after the prototype was made for the famous aviator.
It’s unknown where the original timepiece is, but it’s likely to be in São Paulo, Brazil, where Alberto Santos-Dumont died in 1932.
These watches led interesting lives, and continue to capture the curiosity of people, even if they have disappeared from view.
We’d love to know their fate, just as much as you do!
#JohnLennon #BuzzAldrin #LyndonJohnson #PabloPicasso #CartierSantos
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