We rarely write about auctions, as frankly they're normally pretty dull. When we do it's only when there's a combination of an unusual piece and record breaking or unreasonable price being met. The Gerald Charles watch sold at Christies rare Watches auction on May 12 2025 meets both these criteria.
The piece itself is a one of a kind edition of the brands GC39 Remaster. The watch sells in steel for $38,000, and this version in titanium has a unique opal dial. Movie fans will remember an opal featured in Uncut Gems a few years ago. In the film Kevin Garnett was captivated by the way light played through the stone. This dial demonstrates all this beauty on top of a jumping hours complication. The real personal touch is the winning buyer will have their initials engraved on the back of the case.
As for the sale price? The watch was predicted to sell for $47,000, a bit over the price a steel model goes for, however, the hammer price was $120,000, almost three times the pre-auction estimate.
The buyer's anonymous, and apparently the proceeds will go to a children's charity that helps children digital lives. Difficult to know what that means, and obviously if someone really wanted to help they shouldn't need to get a luxury watch in exchange for doing so. However one things for certain in respect of what this sale shows, at a certain level of the economy the cost of living crisis doesn't appear to exist.