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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The letters of his name are spelled out by the hour markers of the otherwise unremarkable Swiss stainless steel timepiece, made by the little-known Michael Z. Berger Co in 1960.
As Bonhams Paris point out in their auction notes, Picasso had the good fortune to have a name of exactly 12 letters. It is serendipitous that Pablo Picasso is 12 letters long a
nd it was something he was surely aware of and was waiting to create when he had the chance, they say.
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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
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Rare Picasso watch, Michael Z. Berger Co pour Pablo Picasso, c.1960, estimate 12,000 18,000. Photo: Bonhams.
PARIS
.- Picasso is revered in the art world and beyond for such masterpieces as Guernica, La Vie and Girl Before a Mirror, but in the world of horology, it is a small collection of relatively humble timepieces owned by the Master of Modern Art which are admired rather than his artistic talents.
The Picasso watch bears the name of the artist himself, with the letters forming the hour markers on the dial, considered a more prestigious name than Patek Philippe or Rolex. They were worn by the artist while he painted and only two were widely known to exist, with awareness of a third, but its whereabouts unknown until now.