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Pablo Picasso-Owned Watch s Jaw-Dropping Sale at Bonhams Paris
This Quirky Picasso-Owned Watch Just Sold for $267,000
Getty Images / Tony Vaccaro
A rare wristwatch belonging to Pablo Picasso sold this week, smashing pre-auction estimates for a jaw-dropping auction result.
On Thursday, the collectible went under the hammer at Bonhams Paris where it sold for an incredible $266,978 – 20 times its modest pre-sale estimate.
At first glance a well-worn humble 32mm steel watch, the watch dial displays a seemingly random collection of letters in place of time markings: P A B L O P I C A S S O. It s an exceptional example of horological self-branding.
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Pablo Picasso was never called a watch aficionado.
However, it turns out the famed artist was. He owned a Jaeger-LeCoutre and Rolex GMT-Master, and was known to wear at least three distinct watches while he painted.
Those three timepieces have achieved a certain notoriety: Two of them are currently said to be owned by the Picasso Foundation. The third was believed to have been lost until now.
The manual wind steel-on-steel piece will sell as part of Bonhams’ Paris Luxury Watch Sale on May 20. It is predicted to fetch 12,000 to 18,000 euros ($14,500 to $22,000).
The timepiece is particularly intriguing because instead of numbers on its dial, it features letters that spell out