Any auction dedicated to a member of the Beatles and his wife ?a former James Bond girl ?would be interesting to follow; when we discovered that the lots included a Patek reference 3448 ?a rare perpetual calendar ?we had to share it with our readers.
Next week, on December 3rd, the auction house Julian's will offer a special collection of items from the personal collections of Ringo Starr, the drummer from the Beatles, and his wife Barbara Bach, the James Bond girl from The Spy Who Loved Me. Several lots are absolutely outstanding, including, as you can imagine, many musical instruments. The star lot is obviously a guitar that used to belong to John Lennon, who eventually gifted it to Ringo. This isn't just a collection of Ringo and Barbara ephemera and memorabilia, by the way; the auction was actually curated by the couple as well.
One lot really captured our attention despite its sober title: "Ringo Starr Patek Philippe Wristwatch." The listing utterly fails to underline the rarity of this piece: introduced in 1962, the reference 3448 was nothing less than the very first perpetual calendar from Patek Philippe with an automatic movement. And only 586 examples were manufactured in the span of its 20 years of existence. The Beatles seemed to have a very real appreciation for Pateks with complications, as John Lennon also owned a Patek perpetual calendar with moon phases and chronograph function, the famous reference 2499, a watch still not accounted for.
ADVERTISEMENTImage via Beatles Photo Blog.
Ringo Starr's Patek is in yellow gold, like the immense majority of the reference 3448. Only a handful of examples are known for the other metals: 25 replica watches at most with a white gold case, two with platinum cases, and two other in rose gold, like the $2M one sold at Christie's in 2011.
The case of the present watch is a testimony to the fact that the watch was well loved and worn, especially when you focus on the lugs. The Asprey strap is worn out but its story might be interesting: it could indicate that this watch was originally bought in this famous store in London, a logical UK provenance for the most famous British band (all right, sharing that spot with the Rolling Stones).
The estimate for this special watch, which is interesting not only for its importance as a watch, but also its provenance, ranges from $80,000 to $100,000 here, and according to the description it does not come with box and papers, which in this case makes probably little to no difference in its appeal. The only thing I truly regret about this lot is that there's no included picture of Ringo Starr rocking that 3448 back in the groovy Seventies.
A Patek Philippe 1579 Chronograph In Platinum Est. 1.1M 1.7M Plus Who Is David J. Paper 1055