Gli Orologi UNICI Di Monaco Legend Con DAVIDE PARMEGIANI

Hi Davide, today we are here to talk about Monaco Legend and to talk about an initiative that will be there towards the end of October. It is a pleasure to be here in Milan with you. My pleasure, thank you for coming. I am very pleased to finally have a chat with you, I always see you and thank you for coming to give us this support. We are very happy to be once again here in Milan at the Mandarin Oriental exhibition. This is our 10th auction and our 10th catalogue. It is a beautiful end of an adventure that is developing in a very interesting way. In my opinion, it is also giving a lot of energy to the vintage watch market. As you know, it is the story of my life, I have been dealing with vintage watches for 35 years. We are very satisfied with the selection we have managed to make for our 10th auction. In my opinion, it is the most beautiful catalogue we have ever made. We have an extraordinary assortment of pieces that vary. Here I have taken some small examples, but then the highlights are available. We have a crazy selection of Paul Newman, which come from the most important collections in the world, also very well known, honestly, and that some have already passed from very important auctions in the past. We have this crazy discovery of this Nautilus Bayer, never auctioned, with all its documents, a crazy documentation of letters between the owner, who has owned it for more than 20 years, and Bayer, who gives him all the information of the case, preserved in condition as new. And perhaps one of the watches that has drawn you out and which I am most attached to for this sale is this incredible Magnum Tank by Cartier Calendario Fasi Lunari, which is a watch that really left me astonished when I was able to find it, from the collector who bought it at an auction in Tokyo, in Antiquarium, in 1991. He has kept it for all these years, for these 32 years, and it is a truly extraordinary watch. I personally disassembled it, I checked all its construction, and then, thanks to friendships and contacts with the Cartier and Audemars Piguet archives, we were able to reconstruct the whole story, which is really super interesting, in which Audemars Piguet provided the Cartier movement in 1964, and therefore it is not the classic Tank that we see, that we are used to seeing. In the last auction we had one, the Tank Audemars Piguet Retail by Cartier. Those are watches made entirely in Switzerland and then only signed on the dial of the Parisian Maison. This is a completely Cartier object, and it is a Magnum Tank Oversize. It is one of the rarest Tanks they have ever made, because even in the solo time version it is particularly rare for very large dimensions. But to see it, the complete calendar and Fasi Luna, with this spectacular layout of white lacquered dial and the number of black Romans, for me it was an incredible emotion. I went to take the catalog of the auction of when it was sold, where you think that already at the time it had made more than 100,000 dollars at the auction, years in which, if you count 1991 when it was sold, these Paul Newman cost 8,000, 7,000, 10,000 each, and a 15-18 in those years was a watch that made between 60 and 80,000 dollars. This watch had already been identified to be a great rarity. Of course, that figure contextualizes the importance of the watch, because it was a market in which the collectionism was not so developed. It was the first really urgent years of collectionism, where Italy, I must tell you the truth, really dominated the rest of Europe, not to mention the rest of the world. In Italy in 1991-1990, luckily for me, because I started just a few years earlier, Italy was by far the strongest market for the sale of collection watches. There were very important entrepreneurs of the time, who were in their best years, and I also speak professionally speaking, and let's say they wanted, they were eager to own collection watches. Even more, let's say that the car of the time has always gone a bit in parallel as a market, but what has been seen, the eagerness to own collection watches in those years, by a core, perhaps a little restricted, but very important, of Italian entrepreneurs, it was something unique. The most important collectors in the world were born. You were lucky enough to meet and interview almost all of them, because Dagold Berg, Sandro Fratini, then there are many others, Enrico De Marco, to name one of the most prominent, but there are many. And I was lucky enough to be one of their suppliers at that time. Having this watch on auction is for me to have a piece of Cartier's history, and of the French manufacturing of the 60s. In reality, this watch is designed by Cartier at the end of the 50s, and only ten copies are produced, all at request, and all with a configuration, one different from the other, of quadrant. We had as particularly important information, not even reserved, that one of these watches was built for the royal family of Morocco. And there were only ten copies made, all with Powered Audemars Piguet movement. Among other things, from the Audemars Piguet archives, a beautiful e-mail came out that we give to the watch buyer, where the Audemars Piguet has the delivery of the movement in Paris, to their broker at the time, to the supplier that then supplied Cartier, with also the number of cases in which the watch would have been mounted. That is, the Audemars Piguet already knew in which watch this movement would have ended. And it really reconstructs a little the whole history, the historical pedigree of this object, which in my opinion is really extraordinary. Certainly in its kind, it is absolutely unique. This small natural pearl, instead of the classic sapphire, and also of other stones that have been seen used by Cartier, but the rarity of seeing this pearl in the octagonal crown, gave me that too, an extraordinary emotion. The belt you see, which may not be to everyone's taste, let's say not easy to taste, but we kept it, because it is still the same belt with which the watch was sold in 1991 by Antiquorum, by Osvaldo Patrizzi at the time, in the first and only auction he did in Tokyo. Because, consequently, I am happy to have it, and to find, as I like to say, the next caretaker, but it is an object that I consider really extraordinary. It seems to me that I have seen the market so active a few times, and so, let's say, eager for objects and research, let's say. There are really a lot of new collectors who approach the vintage and high-level collectibles market in watches. And there are young people who are really passionate about collection watches, vintage, signed watches like the ones we have here. Absolutely. Yes, even Nautilus Bayer is another witness of a few years later, in the 80s, how important it was still to have, let's say, the object for retail from a large Maison like Bayer, which perhaps today has remained perhaps the most important historic Swiss dealer that Pate Philippe has ever had. Certainly also the longest one, since the company is still owned by the Bayer family, and he is one of the descendants of the family in person. No, we are, let's say, super positive, and just as we are super positive also to be in the organizing committee of this new particular event, this Time On Show, which will take place in Bologna from the 26th to the 29th of October. We are very happy. I really like the collaboration with Paolo Borgomanero, Pierluigi Santi, Auro Montanari, who you know is more of a brother to me than a client. And I find that this could be, perhaps, another time, a new event to qualify the world of collection watchmaking at a certain level. In the sense that, apart from that, no kind of discrimination was wanted, there are really very few places, there have been dozens and dozens of requests, but unfortunately we were able to satisfy a small core of merchants, let's say that for the moment the pavilion available is rather limited, and we wanted, at this moment, to keep it that way. It is an idea of Paolo Borgomanero and Pierluigi Santi to try to create a kind of collectionism with a very exclusive selection of merchants that are already points of reference in vintage watchmaking, mainly Italian. Then the idea is that this could be an open format, really also, let's say, other shows around Europe, around the world, and increasingly draw the attention of collectors towards events that bring vintage watchmaking as a collection, let's say, in the best possible way. How important is Bologna as a city? Because in Italian collectionism there are different cities, there are collectors all over Italy, but Bologna is particularly important. Bologna has always been a crazy strategic point, perhaps also for the logistical position, in the sense that it is not in the center of Italy, but connects the north with the center of Italy in an exceptional way, and it has always been a meeting point for collectionism. Then everything that concerns the Motor Valley and the Watch Valley of the Emilian area is something that combines the sense of tradition, of handing over things and collecting vintage objects, that is, both in cars and in watches, all over Emilia-Romagna in general. It has always been an incredible tank, both of customers and buyers, and of families who already owned and handed over beautiful collection items for a long time. So Bologna is certainly a super strategic center, not at all the transfer of the Auto e Moto d'Epoca fair in Padova, which has always been a beautiful fair with a wonderful influx, but the choice of Bologna to buy, to put that format in Bologna, is a strategically absolutely positive choice and 100% correct. You will see, my idea is that that fair will become the most important car fair in Europe, certainly going beyond the classic Techno of Essen and perhaps reaching the level of the Retromobile of Paris, which for me is the most beautiful fair that is currently making collectible cars. Let's say that our contribution, our support with such an exclusive and excellent item as the vintage watch can only further qualify this event. Bologna will only have to earn it. Certainly, and then Monaco Legend Group, as a strategic partner, has an important role, because it has a role not only for the selection of the merchants who are present at the fair, but also on a personal level. So what is the experience? We always face this kind of event, I'm talking about me in particular, in the friendly way in which I like to manage my work. That is, for us there are always meetings of enthusiasts, of colleagues, of professionals, of collectors, where the live motive is the pleasure of being together, of eating a good plate of ham, of drinking a glass of Lambrusco, of being in company. I always combine a certain type of lifestyle at work, which otherwise would only be buying and selling, let's say for me it is a rather restrictive vision of what I like to do in life. As a result, such an event, organized in an exclusive way, certainly in a pleasant way, can only be a positive thing for everyone to approach. Sure, and what can people expect from Time On Show, so from this first event? In my opinion, a beautiful and very accurate selection, certainly the participating operators are all great professionals, I am convinced that they will choose the best of their stock, of their opportunities, precisely to try to be particularly present and to give the public an extremely positive impression of the exhibition. We, from our point of view, you know, we have the auction next week, we are pleased to go and see all the friends and all the collectors, who among other things, I hope, have all been present at our auction, let's say that we also play a role of support and support for all collectors and friends who want to participate. However, in my opinion, what the collector, the visitor must expect, will be an exceptional selection of extraordinary objects of absolutely excellent quality. We, as enthusiasts, we like to explore what people wear and I see a particular watch, this as the last question, I ask you, what are you wearing today? Look, I'm wearing a James Bond 65... 5508, very beautiful, with a Gilt dial that is taking on a beautiful tropical color, an old 50s Submariner, still in excellent condition, with a beautiful dial and in original conditions, never restored, as I like, as it is difficult, I still like to find beautiful and tasty objects. I still like to wear watches, both vintage and modern. My passion for watchmaking is 360 degrees, so if you see my Instagram yesterday, I posted three Daytona with diamonds, with stones, because I really like those too, I think the market, the trend, is going a lot towards these watches with precious stones, however, they are also those, there is still a crazy identification of craftsmanship in the manufacture of these watches, there is a lot of work, there is a lot of research behind it, also for the search for stones and those made in the 90s, like the ones I published yesterday, today, in my opinion, have become absolutely rare objects. This does not remove the fact that for me wearing a nice 50s steel Submariner on my wrist is a great satisfaction, that when I find it beautiful, I always wear it for a couple of days. See you at Time On Show in Bologna. It's a pleasure, thank you very much. See you also in Monaco, because you still have to come and meet us there and we are waiting for you. Let's have a longer chat. Absolutely. Thanks a lot. See you soon.