Watch Spotting at Wright Auction in Chicago

Or, an excuse to post wristshots of a Patek 3940

Last week, I visited Wright Auction to check out some of the watches from their Chicago Edit sale. Vintage dealer Eric Wind was also there to give a talk about collecting vintage watches. You can even watch the recording of it here: Watch Collecting 101 with Eric Wind.

My friend Charlie Dunne also has a photo dispatch, which you can find here and here.

It was exciting to be in a room with a bunch of watch geeks again, listening to a “lecture” about watches (just think for a second how oddly amazing it is that that’s a thing). Anyway, I snapped a few photos of the watches that were being offered by Wright Auction, as well as some other cool stuff that collectors brought.

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It doesn’t get much better than the Patek Philippe ref. 3940 Perpetual Calendar. This one was offered in Wright’s Chicago Edit.

A large gold vintage Vacheron & Constantin with a beautiful guilloche dial. A wise, modern guillocher once told me that Vacheron made the best guilloche dials during this era, so I tend to soak these in for a few extra minutes whenever I get the chance.

A vintage Keith Haring Swatch, a reminder that Swatch has been killing collabs for a long, long time. This watch is owned by a collector.

The Zenith x SJX “Poker Chip,” a limited-edition collaboration between the chronograph-maker and watch publication I did not expect to like as much as I did. the micro-blasted titanium case in a stealthy matte black along with the healthy dose of lume on the dial make this extremely fun to wear. I wore this watch around the auction room while playing with the rest of the lots and didn’t want to take it off my wrist.

At 36mm, this Richard Lange from A. Lange & Sohne feels like just about the perfect dress watch. Every single detail feels thought-out, sophisticated, and cohesive.

A ridiculously sharp Vulcain Cricket on the wrist of Charlie Dunne, who makes a gold watch and seersucker jacket look effortless.

A vintage Rolex Daytona — what else to say about this one?

A 1990s Patek Philippe ref. 5010. The rectangular watch wears very nicely, though the dial felt a bit flat and lacking.

A vintage Heuer Autavia with an early PVD-coated case.