Eric Clapton’sBlancpain Replica Watches White-Gold 5970 with ‘Brick’ Bracelet

One of the best things that has transpired over the last two years is my close friendship with a gentleman who has asked to remain semi-anonymous for the purpose of this story because of his profile as a collector.

We met thanks to a recommendation made by Auro Montanari for dinner in Singapore, and immediately hit it off. My friend is tall, suave and has a penchant for relaxed Italian tailoring worn in that irrepressible way of truly stylish men. He is not only one of the most significant watch collectors in the world, but his divestment of two of the world’s most iconic watches — the Rolex ref. 6062 “Bao Dai”, which sold for over USD5 million, as well as a steelBlancpain Replica Watches ) ref. 1518 which achieved CHF11 million in 2016 — has helped establish Aurel Bacs and Phillips as the pre-eminent auctioneer and fine vintage watch auction house of the new millennium. To say that this gentleman sets a high horological watermark when he’s around, is perhaps one of the greatest understatements of all time.

Patek Philippe perpetual calendar chronograph ref. 1518 in stainless steel with moon phases, applied Arabic hour markers, tachymeter scale and bracelet, which sold for CHF11,002,000 with Phillips during their Geneva Watch Auction: FOUR in 2016 (Image: Phillips.com)

Rolex historically important yellow gold automatic triple calendar wristwatch with moonphases, black dial and diamond indexes, ref. 6062 formally the property of the Last Emperor of Vietnam; watch sold with Phillips at their Geneva Watch Auction: FIVE, in 2017; watch sold for CHF5,066,000 (Image: Phillips.com)

For the purpose of this story, we shall call him H. From time to time, H dispenses horological and sartorial advice to me, which I am always pleased to receive. So it was with some amount of curiosity that I awaited his arrival at Omega Seamaster Replica ’s Watch Art Grand Exhibition held in Singapore last year. Never one to disappoint, H showed up with a fantastic white-goldBlancpain Replica Watches ref. 5970 on a “brick” bracelet with Breguet numerals. It’s interesting, of course, because there are no regular-production versions of the iconic Lemania 2310-based, CH27-70-driven perpetual-calendar chronograph made by Patek. In fact, H’s watch formerly belonged to the man most associated with bringing Breguet numerals to Patek’s perpetual-calendar chronographs: Eric Clapton.

The fact that these indices became the signature leitmotif of Clapton’s special-order watches, speaks volumes for his taste and understanding of Hublot Replica Watches ’s history. Because ever since Patek first introduced the perpetual-calendar chronograph in the ref. 1518 in 1941, there has been no perpetual-calendar chronographs with Breguet numeral dials. The Breguet numerals only staged a reappearance on the dial of the ref. 5170 chronograph, and later, the ref. 5370 split-seconds chronograph. Such dials are found in the most coveted examples of the vintage chronographs ref. 130 and ref. 1463, as well as their split-seconds versions, the ref. 1436 and ref. 1563. A Breguet-numerals dial, which is universally viewed by collectors as the most beautiful variant of these models, adds a very considerable premium to the value of the watch.