President’s Watches: Nicolas Sarkozy’s Rolex Collection.

Nicolas Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa was born on 28 January 1955. He is the 23rd President of the French Republic. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier.

Before his presidency, he was leader of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). Under Jacques Chirac’s presidency, he served as Minister of the Interior in Jean-Pierre Raffarin’s (UMP) first two governments (from May 2002 to March 2004), then was appointed Minister of Finances in Raffarin’s last government (March 2004 to May 2005), and again Minister of the Interior in Dominique de Villepin’s government (2005-2007).

Sarkozy was also president of the General council of the Hauts-de-Seine department from 2004 to 2007 and mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine, one of the wealthiest communes of France from 1983 to 2002. He was also Minister of the Budget in the government of Édouard Balladur (RPR, predecessor of the UMP) during François Mitterrand’s last term.

Nicolas Sarkozy is a true Rolex collector, with a particular appreciation for the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, which was made famous by the late American acting icon Paul Newman. He has been pictured many times wearing the classic white faced Daytona, but he seems to prefer the rarer black faced Daytona. The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona is easily recognized for its stainless steel case and an oysterlock bracelet. Rolex Cosmograph features an intricately fashioned dial, whether white or black, and a synthetic sapphire case. It is also water resistant to 100 meters.

Probably one of the rarest and most expensive vintage Rolex watches on the market today, the anti-magnetic Rolex Datocompax Oyster Chronograph has always gone by the adopted name of the “Jean-Claude Killy” Rolex. Popular as the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona identified with Paul Newman or the Rolex Explorer II connected to Steve McQueen, the “Jean-Claude Killy” Rolex was only ever produced infrequently from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. Never reaching mass popularity during its production, this Rolex watch has become incredibly rare and valuable, selling at recent auctions for over $80,000.

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Filed under: Luxury, luxury watches, Nicolas Sarkozy, President Nicolas Sarkozy, President Watches, Rolex, Rolex Daytona, Rolex Watch, rolex watches, Timepiece, Vintage, Watch, Watches, wristwatches

ROLEX AMBASSADORS

Among its long path, Rolex has been represented by many figures of many kinds. Ambassadors coming from the arts such as Cecilia Bartoli, Michael Bublé or Plácido Domingo; equestrians like Meredith Michael – Beerbaum or Rodrigo Pessoa; golfers such as Luke Donald, Retief Goosen or Trevor Immelman to tennis players like Roger Federer or Ana Ivanovic.

Yachting

Paul Cayard

Paul Pierre Cayard was born May 19, 1959. Rolex Ambassador’s Cayard is an American yachtsman who has participated in a wide range of world championship sailing events including the America’s Cup, the Volvo Ocean Race and the Olympic Games, between many others. In 1998 he was selected as the Rolex Yachtsmen of the Year. Cayard has twice participated in the Olympic Games and five times in the America’s Cup, in addition to winning seven world championships.

Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master II

Tennis

Roger Federer

Roger Federer was born on the 8 August, 1981. Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player currently ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), having previously held the number one position for a record 237 consecutive weeks. Many sports analysts, tennis critics, former and current players consider Federer to be the greatest tennis player of all time

Oyster Perpetual Day-Date

Ana Ivanovic

Ana Ivanović was born in November 6, 1987, in Belgrade, Serbia. Ivanovic is a former World No. 1 Serbian tennis player ranked as World No. 11 by the Women’s Tennis Association. She won the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open.

Oyster Perpetual Datejust

Skiing

Hermann Maier

Hermann Maier was born on December 7, 1972, in Altenmarkt im Pongau. Maier is an Austrian alpine ski racer that won four overall World Cup titles (1998, 2000, 2001, 2004), two Olympic gold medals (both in 1998), three World Championship titles (1999: 2, and 2005) and 54 races on the World Cup circuit.

Oyster Perpetual Datejust Turn-O-Graph

Golf

Luke Donald

Luke Campbell Donald was born on 7 December, 1977. Campbell Donald is an English golfer who plays mainly on the U.S. based PGA Tour but, is also a member of the European Tour. In 2006 he reached the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time in his career. In January 2007, he reached a career high ranking of 7 and was briefly the highest ranked European golfer. He has spent over 50 weeks in the top-10.

Oyster Perpetual Datejust Turn-O-Graph

Retief Goosen

Retief Goosen was born 3 February 1969. Goosen is a South African professional golfer who has been in the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for over 250 weeks between 2001 and 2007. His main achievements have been two U.S. Open wins (in 2001 and 2004) and also heading the European Tour Order of Merit (money list) in 2001 and 2002.

Oyster Perpetual Datejust

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Filed under: Luxury, Luxury Sports Watches, luxury watches, Mens, Rolex, Rolex Accuracy, Rolex Chronograph, Rolex Datejust, Rolex Day Date, Rolex Day Date President, Rolex Daytona, Rolex Explorer, ROLEX HISTORY, Rolex in Movies, Rolex Kew A, Rolex Lady's Watches, Rolex Movements, Rolex Oyster, Rolex Perpetual, Rolex President, Rolex Prince, Rolex Quartz Watches, Rolex Releases 2009, Rolex Sea Dweller, Rolex SeaDweller, Rolex Submariner, ROLEX THE KEW “A”, Rolex Watch, rolex watches, Seamaster, Sports, Timepiece, Vintage, Watch, Watches, Water resistant, Womens, wristwatches

Patrizzi & Co New York: Important Pocket Watches, Vintage and Modern Wristwatches on June 4, 2009.

Two sessions offer outstanding pocket watches, vintage and modern wristwatch, with NO buyer’s commission and simultaneos Internet bidding.

Gerald Genta (Lot 292) –
Estimate: $ 400,000 – $ 500,000

On June 4 in New York, Patrizzi & Co Auctioneers will present “Important Pocket Watches, Vintage and Modern Wristwatches” comprised of some 290 timepieces of outstanding quality, provenance and rarity. The auction follows two highly successful Patrizzi & Co auctions in Europe — the Davide Blei Vintage Rolex Collection, which was held March 22 in Milan and totaled more than $3.7 million with 114 timepieces, and the April 19 auction in Geneva with sales totaling over $6.7 million with 80% of the 263 lots sold.

Patek Philippe (Lot 196) –
Estimate: $ 80,000 – $ 100,000

Patrizzi & Co was founded last year by Osvaldo Patrizzi with the purpose of bringing transparency at an auction. He also achieved fully integrating online communications with the traditional auction format and, most importantly for Patrizzi & Co’s clients, eliminated fees and simplified the auction process.

Rolex (Lot 291)
Estimate: $ 40,000 – $ 60,000

NO buyer’s commission: This represents the saving to buyers of between 20–25% of the hammer price, which most other major auction houses currently charge.

Vacheron Constantin (Lot 247) – Estimate: $ 3,000 – $ 4,000

Five-year guarantee of authenticity: This guarantee eliminates what is often perceived to be the “risk factor” in buying important pieces via the Internet and includes an accurate and very detailed description of the quality of the piece(s) being purchased.

Patek Philippe (Lot 208) –
Estimate: $ 100,000 to $ 150,000

A choice of catalogs: Clients have a choice of purchasing a special commemorative catalog or a digitally printed color catalog or downloading their own personalized version of the online catalog onto their personal computer or new generation e-Book.

Vacheron Constantin (Lot 249) –
Estimate: $ 1,500 – $ 2,200

Auction
Thursday, 4 June 2009, 10:30 a.m. (lots 1 – 100) and 2 p.m. (lots 101 – 293)
Patrizzi & Co, 595 Madison Avenue, 6th floor, New York

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Filed under: Auction, Audemars Piguet, Audemars Piguet Watches, Important Pocket Watches, luxury watches, Mens, Patek Philippe, Patek Philippe Complicated Watches, Patek Philippe Watch, Patek Philippe Watches, Patrizzi and Co New York, Rolex, Rolex Movements, Rolex Watch, rolex watches, Vacheron Constantin, Vacheron Constantin Watches, Vintage, Watch, Watches, Womens, wristwatches

Napoleon Bonaparte’s Telescope

An extremely fine late 18th Century gilt brass and enamel 1 1/2-inch three-draw refracting telescope, engraved on the largest draw-tube “J.J. Cambacérès à Napoléon Mai 10, 1800”

(Napoleon Bonaparte)

Napoleon Bonaparte’s telescope

One of the greatest military leaders in history, and emperor of France from 1799 until 1815, he conquered much of Europe. He helped remake the map of Europe and established many government and legal reforms, most notably the “Napoleonic Code”.
According to the engraved inscription on the draw-tube, this telescope was given to Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) by Jean-Jacques de Cambacérès on 10 May 1800. It was given to him in Geneva on this date as ‘Napoleon had left Paris, to join the blockaded army in. He stayed for 3 nights with de Saussure, studied maps of the St. Bernard, arranged the timetable for the march and made the necessary appointments for the commanders of the advance guard (Lannes) and cavalry (Murat).

It is interesting to note that the famous oil painting depicting Napoleon on a prancing steed (“Napoleon crossing the Alps” by Jacques-Louis David, 1800, oil on canvas, 260 x 221 cms), is from exactly this period, when Napoleon crossed the St. Bernard in May 1800.

Jean-Jacques Cambacérès, a notorious bachelor and heavy smoker of Virginia tobacco, had a preference for subjects “à l’antique”, and his importance for the history of freemasonry should not be neglected. These two characteristics are perfectly reflected in his collection of gold boxes which also witnesses the change of taste in the applied arts in France from the Louis XVI style to Neoclassicism and Empire.

Fifteen fine enamel snuff boxes from Cambacérès’ collection were sold at Christie’s Geneva on 15 November 1994.

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Filed under: Gold, Napoleon Bonaparte, Vintage, Watch, Watches