The 1969 Rolex is named after the legendary uniform of Formula One racing in the 1970s, the black and gold of its cigarette sponsor, John Player Special. The watch sold for twice its estimate, a sign of the enduring value of the most satisfying Rolex. 
Tenacity, innovation, and vision are the watchmakers’ basic virtues and the driving force of many revolutions in the field of watches.
“Time hasn’t stopped for us this season. It has been a transformative few months. In the past couple of weeks, we have auctioned two of the most valuable Daytonas ever sold, and together with collectors, we are rewriting the rule book of watch auctions,” says Sam Hines, Worldwide Head of Sotheby’s Watches.
“The record-breaking sale of this replica Rolex Daytona JPS summarizes in some ways the takeaways of this pivotal season: the eagerness of collectors to embrace better ways to transact with us, their resolute confidence to buy and sell high-value lots online and, of course, the unabated appetite for freshness, quality, and rarity. Leading this transformation is exciting for us, and we look forward to continuing to shape the market with collectors and share our passion with them in the second half of the year,” he adds.
Daryn Schnipper, Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby’s Watch Division, says the necessary shift into online sales for even the most valuable watches proves how far the auction world has come.
“It’s been wonderful to see antique pieces generating so much passion online and on social media – further proof that historic timepieces are so relevant today. They transcend the function of mere timekeeping to tell us the history of the modern world,” he says.
In a year that has seen so many successes for Breguet, including a record for a Tourbillon by the watchmaking genius at $3m, these values were certainly present in our minds. Many of the rumors have been debunked, especially the assumption that historic fake Rolex watches don’t sell well online: our June “Masterpiece of the Time” auction — the first online auction of world-class pocket watches in umamisf.com — sold 100 percent and set some of the highest prices of the season