Welcome back dear friends of IWS, we have finally arrived in April. This time of year for most people means good weather, longer days, for some even allergies. For us watch enthusiasts, it means nothing but. auctions!
To open this year’s international auction season we once again have Monaco Legend Group that just these days, April 20 and 21, is holding the Exclusive Timepieces auction, as usual, in the Principality of Monaco. The first day of auctions has ended and after the first 100 lots came the undisputed star of the day: we are talking about a crazy and incredibly rare Rolex 4113 Rattrapante Chronograph in steel. Expectations were very high, just think that the last public appearance of a similar 4113 reference was in 2019.
What’s more, this precise timepiece is a celebrity in the world of watchmaking. In fact, the watch belonged to John Goldberger’s collection and is even included within the famous book “100 Superlative Rolex Watches.” All this contributed to a stellar result, the watch was awarded for the astounding sum of 2, 600,000.00 EURO (2.6 million euros). Now let’s cut the chatter and go find out together why this watch is so important!
The Split-seconds Chronograph
First, let’s talk about the complication on this watch. Reference 4113 is a rattrapante chronograph, an incredibly complex movement (some believe more than a minute repeater) that allows you to time two events that begin simultaneously but do not end at the same time. Not to dwell too much on the technical specifications, for those who are curious, I leave the link to our article dedicated to everything you need to know about the rattrapante chronograph.
In addition to the inherent complexity of the mechanism, there is another relevant fact to preface. Rolex is renowned for having a predilection for simple gauges and uncomplicated watches. For this very reason, such complicated watches become incredibly rare and take on even more historical importance.
Rolex Ref. 4113 Split-seconds Chronograph
Once we have done the general background in the previous paragraph, we can dive all the way down to find out why this incredible watch was sold at such a figure.
The Rolex Ref. 4113 is an incredibly rare watch, produced by the crowned house in only 12 pieces for a single year, 1942. But that’s not all, the reference 4113 was never listed in the catalog or even publicly announced. But then how did this reference come about? With what purpose? Here, all these questions contribute to an aura of mystery around this reference that increases its desirability and rarity.
In general, it is thought that the watch was designed for aviation pilots or military purposes, that for one reason or another it became very closely tied to the Italian market, and then somehow ended up gravitating to the auto racing industry.
Supporting the military hypothesis are two main elements: the presence of both scales, the telemetric and the pulsometric, and the use of steel for the case. In fact, in those years gold was much more common for chronograph watches of wealthy people who dabbled in motor racing. The truth is that despite extensive research, the history of this reference is still shrouded in a thick cloud of mystery.
Adding to the rarity of this reference, in addition to the mysterious and fascinating history, are the technical specifications that are particularly unusual for Rolex and especially in those years. As we mentioned, Reference 4113 was produced in steel an uncommon material for watches of this complexity.
The structure of the case is also incredibly peculiar. The 44-mm-diameter case is unusually large by the standards of the time, and its extremely small thickness is incredible considering that it houses one of the most complex functions in watchmaking.
Although 12 examples were produced, only 8 appeared in public, which makes this model even rarer. Finally, icing on the cake, this watch had never been put on the market and belonged to the famous collector John Goldberger.
Final Thoughts
Dear friends of IWS, combine each of the pieces of information in this article and you have a recipe for one of those few watches in the watch industry that is referred to as a “Grail.” A fascinating and mysterious history, a major complication, non-standard materials and shapes, incredibly limited production, and noteworthy recent history. All this has contributed to this stupendous specimen setting the record for the highest price ever achieved by a Rolex reference 4113.
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