‘Wow’, is the natural reaction when you hear about some of the ultra-rare watches sold at auction. But who is behind these sales? Making the deals, securing the watches for the next big international auctions, and on the rostrum with the gavel. That’s Sam Hines, the Global Chairman, Watches at Sotheby’s, based in Hong Kong. Sam gives us his perspective on his role, the industry, current trends and some of the incredible watches that he has sold.
Before we hear from Sam, a quick profile of his background gives you an indication of the experience needed to operate at this level. He has over twenty years in the auction market and luxury watch industry. Originally from the UK, his C.V reads like a who’s who for the international watch auction space, having worked for the big three, Christie’s, Phillips and Sotheby’s, as well as online watch auctioneer Loupe This. Sam initially started working at Sotheby’s in 1997. After a period away from the firm he returned in 2017 as their Worldwide Head of the Watch Division. His third return to the Sotheby’s fold came in June 2024 along with a promotion to Sam’s current position as Global Chairman, Watches. Describing his role, Sam adds:
Sam: “I manage the global team in terms of property, scholarship, and pricing watches we consign for sale. I travel to different regions to hold valuation days and meet with collectors and watch dealers. We are virtually always sourcing, at the start of the year, our Asian and European teams are busy sourcing goods for our spring season of live and online sales which runs from mid-March to May. The sales differ from each other. For the online sales, we focus on our most commercial watches which were made within the last 20-30 years. Our live sales are highly curated, and we try to only feature 200 watches or so that represent the best in terms of quality, rarity and importance. On a daily basis, we also manage the watch supply for our Salon, the retail destination for all our luxury goods available for immediate purchase, which is housed within Maison, our headquarters in central Hong Kong that offers watches”.
With Sam having brought to market so many ultra-rare and valuable watches I asked him for a selection of some of the finest watches he has sold at auction. Sam’s answers give insight into his passion for watches, the pursuit of finding the best examples, as well as the top end of the collector market. Though the list of favourites is ever changing with recent highlights like the new Cartier Crash auction record.
Sam: “I feel privileged to do what I do and come across so many wonderful timepieces – some of the most important watches that I have sold include the following”
F. P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance
Sam: “Collectors will continue to pay the highest premiums for the rarest, greatest quality watches. The market for F.P. Journe is currently on fire and shows no sign of abating in the near future. The hardest thing for us is to continue to find fresh to the market masterpieces, this quest gets tougher every year”.
To highlight the point a good example of a rare F.P. Journe wristwatch, sold at Hines’ home base in Hong Kong, is the F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance, platinum dual time wristwatch from circa 2002. The piece was auctioned by Sotheby’s Hong Kong in October 2025. Specific to the ‘Résonance’ concept as Sotheby’s catalogued ‘The pair of balance wheels that not only power the two-time zones displayed, but most astonishingly serve together as an exciter and resonator which provides more inertia to the movement and results in greater accuracy of time’. Testament to the skill and innovation of the renowned independent watchmaker François-Paul Journe the wristwatch was sold for HKD 5,080,000 (£479,430) including buyer’s premium.
Olmsted Complications Collection
Moving on I was keen to get Sam’s comments about a stunning collection of watches which Sotheby’s sold at their ‘Important Watches’ New York sale on 8 December 2025. Titled the ‘Olmsted Complications Collection’ this was a single owner collection created over a 60-year period by an American watch connoisseur. The collection comprised an outstanding selection of 84 pieces from the 19th to the early 20th century. The common theme of the collection was a singular focus on the finest examples of high complication pocket watches and chronometer clocks. On the day of the sale the collection made a very impressive total of US $22.9 million (£16.8 million) including buyer’s premium more than tripling the pre-sale estimate with all 84 lots finding new homes.
Sam: “Olmsted was important in many ways. If we were to put a check list together that the world’s collectors adhere to when buying they look at the following: quality of the maker, complications, rarity, quality, freshness to the market and provenance. This collection ticked every single box.
Many of the watches in this collection were unknown and fresh to the market, which by today’s standards is a huge rarity in itself. The Patek Philippe perpetual calendar desk clock was unknown in literature and to the market. We thought that there were only two clocks like this ever made, both of which reside in the Patek Philippe museum and were made for Henry Graves Jr. and James Ward Packard. They are arguably the two most important Patek Philippe collectors of all time.
The market was not aware either of the existence of the two Patek Philippe double movement watches. The Audemars Piguet “Grosse Pièce” is unbelievably impressive and had such an impact when holding it. Again, published many years ago it had been forgotten and was fitted with the first ever sky chart. The results speak for themselves, and this sale was really an extremely rare event that will not be repeated for decades to come”.
The Audemars Piguet 18k gold pocket watch from 1921 known as the “Grosse Pièce” (large watch), No.16869 is a ‘tour de force’ in watchmaking. Sotheby’s noted about the watch it was ‘The Most Complicated Audemars Piguet Pocket Watch in Private Hands’. Boasting a double dial, 18 complications including a one-minute tourbillon, grande and petite sonnerie, chronograph, and perpetual calendar. If that wasn’t enough the watch also has a celestial chart for the nighttime sky of London. Originally commissioned by renowned English maker Smith & Sons of London in 1914 the watch was eventually delivered in 1921 after WWI. When describing the watch Sotheby’s remarked that the Audemars Piguet Heritage Department had recently researched the watch. One can only imagine that it must have been extraordinary for Audemars Piguet to see such an important piece re-surface. Estimated at US $500,000 – 1,000,000 the watch went on to fetch a defining US $7,736,000 (£5,704,910), including buyer’s premium.
Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 6270 ‘The King’
We start the selection with a very rare Rolex, Cosmograph Daytona, Reference. 6270 model, that Sam picked out as one of the most important watches he has sold. The watch was given the name ‘The King’ and originally commissioned by His Highness Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said of Oman, via the famed London jeweller Asprey in the early 1980s. The resulting watch model was gem-set by Rolex with an 18k yellow gold case complete with diamonds and sapphires. As Sotheby’s catalogued, Rolex even gave the watch model its own special designation as a Reference. 6270. It was the first Daytona model to be factory gem-set. This particular example dates to circa 1985. Sold by Sotheby’s at their ‘Important Watches’ auction in Hong Kong during October 2025 the piece made a sparkling HKD 40,635,000 (£3,835,030) including buyer’s premium. The estimate was set at HKD 16,000,000 – 32,000,000. Commenting about the Reference. 6270 and its sale Sam said.
Sam: “I sold my first 6270 in 2013. Then the watch made a record price of 1m USD. The reference has since then grown in popularity and today we know that there are less than 10 in the world. Back in 2013, we had no idea how many ref. 6270 were made. This is one of the reasons why the world of vintage watches has grown so much – technology and scholarship have made a huge difference to bringing a new perspective to assessing the value of collectible timepieces. Today our knowledge with vintage watches is the strongest it has ever been and the market has reacted very favourably in terms of collectors wanting to own the very best pieces and paying whatever it takes to secure them. The 6270 illustrates perfectly the growth of the vintage watch market”.
Patek Philippe Ref. 2499 Asprey & Gobbi Milano
Amongst Sam’s selection of rare watches he has auctioned are two dual signed Patek Philippe wristwatches. This style of watch has always caught the attention of connoisseur collectors especially when the maker is Patek Philippe and the retailer is a famed jeweller. The two examples given by Sam include a possibly unique Patek Philippe, Reference. 2499, 18k yellow gold perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch with moon phases. Retailed by London jeweller Asprey and made in 1952. The watch was sold in 2018 at Sotheby’s Geneva for Swiss Franc 3,915,000 (£3,747,060) including buyer’s premium.
The other notable example, a Patek Philippe Reference. 2499 (2nd Series), to be snapped up by collectors was dual dial signed with Italian jeweller Gobbi Milano. This highly rare 18k pink gold perpetual calendar, with moon phases, and chronograph wristwatch is dated to 1957. At Sotheby’s, ‘The Nevadian Collector’ sale held in April 2022 in Hong Kong it made HKD 60,265,000 (£5,688,380) including buyer’s premium. As Sam recalls.
Sam: “First on the market in 2007, The Gobbi Milano 2499 in pink gold is a unique example and the only known 2nd series pink to have a retailer’s signature. In 2007 the watch made the world record price for the reference. When we sold the watch again in 2022, I knew it would sell for another world record, and it did”.
Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 16516 Turquoise & Lapis Lazuli
With increased recent interest in semi-precious hardstone dials two stand out ‘Neo-Vintage’ Rolex wristwatches sold at auction by Sam Hines and in his selection for this article included the following. A very rare and possibly unique Rolex, Cosmograph Daytona, Reference. 16516, with a platinum case and turquoise hardstone dial from circa 1998. The watch sold in April 2021 in Hong Kong for HKD 24,375,000 (£2,300,740) including buyer’s premium. A year before this, in July 2020, Sotheby’s Hong Kong sold another platinum cased Rolex, Cosmograph Daytona, Reference. 16516 featuring a unique blue Lapis Lazuli hardstone dial from circa 1999. The watch took HKD 25,375,000 (£2,395,130) at auction. About the Lapis Lazuli Rolex Daytona version Sam remarked.
Sam: “A unique Rolex does not come along often, if ever. The former CEO of Rolex made a handful of unique platinum automatic Daytona for his closest friend. I felt enormous excitement when I was given the opportunity to reveal to the market that we had this watch to sell. Auctioning this watch brings a unique feeling and one that does not come along so often. The adrenaline we experience from the initial sale announcement is what makes the auction business so addictive for many of us”.
Patek Philippe Star Calibre 2000
Another highlight was the ‘never-before-seen’ at auction set of four 18k yellow gold Patek Philippe Star Calibre 2000 half-hunter pocket watches. The set of four was auctioned by Sotheby’s at the inaugural Abu Dhabi Collectors’ week held in early December 2025. The combined set made a spectacular US $11,910,000 (£8,783,030) including buyer’s premium. Patek Philippe created the group to mark the dawn of the new millennium in 2000. Each watch differs by the case material used with an 18k yellow gold, rose gold, white gold and platinum versions. Each piece has 21 complications along with 1,118 components. Sam was directly involved in the sale and commented at the time of the sale.
Sam: “The Star Calibre 2000 is an unprecedented feat that changed the history of watchmaking. Even among the world’s most elite collectors, the Star Calibre 2000 is something of a myth, whispered about but rarely encountered. To offer a complete, previously unknown set, in untouched condition, is the kind of opportunity that surfaces once in a generation. If ever.”
All image credits: Sotheby’s
