Issue #285 | Buying Time - November 6, 2026
Independent watchmaking builds its future, Subdial accelerates, and a freshly serviced Lange brings substance to the auction block.
Buying Time in 60 Seconds
Watchmaking needs more than another good watch. Today’s issue follows the people, businesses, and communities helping the industry develop its next chapter—from Ateliers Associés’ new incubator for independent makers to the FHH’s emphasis on education and Subdial’s expanding collector ecosystem.
The releases cover considerable ground. Yema introduces a luminous moonphase dress watch, Serica brings golden-green character to its travel chronometer, and Nomos makes a compact sports watch quietly compelling in silver. HTD offers an accessible traveler’s GMT, Luminox adds mechanical chronograph muscle, and Piaget turns Andy Warhol’s camouflage into an elaborate composition of stone and gold.
Our reviews range from the affordable Bulova A-11 “Jimmy” and viral DWC Terra to JM Fleury’s openworked chronograph and Tutima’s titanium Patria. We also compare two inexpensive everyday watches, preview Geneva’s auction offerings, and look ahead to IAMWATCH in Singapore and Saturday’s GPHG ceremony.
Yesterday’s rose-gold Patek Philippe Cubitus reached US$91,500 without meeting its reserve. Today’s featured auction is a 2023 A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Annual Calendar in white gold, accompanied by box, papers, and documentation of a June 2026 factory service. Bidding is scheduled to close Saturday, November 7, at 8:45 p.m. Eastern.
Time Graphing Today’s Watch Universe
Who Builds the Future Behind the Watch?
We’ve spent a great deal of time discussing what makes a watch worth buying here at Buying Time. Today’s issue raises an equally interesting question: What makes it possible for that watch to exist in the first place?
A talented watchmaker needs tools, components, working capital, and time. A collector needs enough information to understand what is being offered. A retailer needs a relationship that survives beyond the initial transaction. Somewhere between those requirements, a watch becomes a viable business—and, with luck, part of someone’s life.
The launch of Ateliers Associés brings that process into view. Independent watchmaking has become one of the most exciting areas of collecting, but enthusiasm for a finished watch can obscure the difficulty of getting the first production pieces delivered. Developing a movement and establishing a brand demand different skills. The same person is often expected to master both.
An incubator that supplies financing, supplier relationships, production support, and commercial experience addresses a real gap. Its minority ownership model also deserves attention. Supporting independence introduces obligations and expectations of its own. The interesting test will be whether those resources give watchmakers enough room to develop distinctive work while building businesses capable of supporting it.
That question connects directly with today’s FHH summit discussion about education. The industry needs people who can make and repair watches, and it needs people who can explain them. A salesperson who understands a movement, a collector who recognizes thoughtful construction, and an apprentice learning how to finish a component all contribute to the same ecosystem.
Knowledge gives enthusiasm somewhere to go. It helps a buyer ask better questions and gives a maker a better chance of being understood.
Subdial’s growth illustrates another part of that system. Its reported sales gains are substantial, but the clubhouse, videos, events, and collector conversations are also part of the story. A business dealing in pre-owned watches has to establish confidence repeatedly. The watch may be familiar; the individual example and the people selling it still need to earn trust.
Revenue growth does not settle the question of profitability. It does suggest that collectors continue to respond to businesses that combine inventory with useful information and a recognizable community.
The accompanying column on changing client expectations makes the human side explicit. Remembering a customer’s interests, answering carefully, and following through are meaningful forms of service. They become particularly important when the product requires patience, explanation, or a substantial financial commitment.
The watches in this issue show how many different outcomes that support can produce.
Yema’s Senans Grande Lune makes its argument through a compact case, micro-rotor movement, and unusual luminous moonphase. Serica’s Golden Green GMT demonstrates how much identity can emerge from carefully chosen colors. Nomos’ all-silver Club Sport relies on proportion and restraint. Each gives a collector something specific to appreciate.
At a different price level, JM Fleury’s openworked chronograph reveals the manufacturing knowledge behind the finished object. At the affordable end, the DWC Terra shows how quickly an unexpected design can attract an audience—and how difficult it can be to satisfy that audience once demand outruns supply.
Next week’s IAMWATCH gathering in Singapore will put makers and collectors in the same room. Those encounters matter. They allow an unfamiliar idea to become a conversation, a demonstration, and sometimes a lasting relationship.
The future of watches will arrive through thousands of such exchanges: someone teaching, someone financing, someone explaining, someone taking a chance on an unfamiliar name. The finished watch is the part we can put on our wrist. Today’s issue is a reminder of how much work it takes to get it there.
-Michael Wolf
News
Subdial’s UK Sales Jump 80% as the Business Expands Its Collector Community
Subdial’s latest figures show substantial growth in the pre-owned watch business. UK sales increased 80%, while global revenue rose 64% to £21.4 million in the financial year ending January 2026. Gross profit advanced 53% to £3.1 million, and operating losses narrowed to £231,000.
The company’s hybrid buying-and-reselling model requires meaningful investment in stock, which increased 34% in value to £5.1 million. Higher average selling prices also contributed to the performance. The figures show a business expanding rapidly while continuing to work toward sustainable profitability.
Its larger Farringdon headquarters adds a physical dimension to that strategy. Described as a clubhouse, the space supports collector gatherings, podcasts, and a community already reaching substantial audiences through YouTube and Instagram. For Subdial, building a recognizable place in watch culture accompanies the work of buying and selling the watches themselves.
Ateliers Associés Introduces a Business Incubator for Independent Watchmakers
Ateliers Associés aims to help emerging watchmakers turn promising ideas into functioning businesses. The venture combines capital, infrastructure, mentorship, and industry relationships, taking minority stakes of up to 30% in the projects it supports.
The initiative has reportedly secured approximately CHF1.5 million toward a CHF5 million funding ambition and intends to support as many as four new watchmakers annually. Its scope extends from development through production and market introduction, addressing challenges that can overwhelm a small workshop before its first watches reach customers.
Mickaël Gaspar’s Souscription project is the first planned launch, with twenty pieces scheduled for presentation at IAMWATCH in Singapore. Further projects are expected in 2027, including a women-led brand. The proposition is long-term support for talent that needs a commercial foundation as well as technical recognition.
The People and Practical Support Behind the New Independent Watchmaking Incubator
A second report examines how Ateliers Associés intends to operate under founders William Massena and Louis Westphalen-Lemaitre. The model gives selected watchmakers financing for a prototype alongside access to suppliers, production expertise, branding support, and collector relationships.
That division of responsibilities is central to the idea. A gifted watchmaker may be capable of developing a sophisticated mechanism while lacking the time or resources to manage photography, communications, sourcing, allocations, and deliveries. The incubator aims to build those functions around the creator.
Its first beneficiary, 29-year-old French watchmaker Mickaël Gaspar, is preparing the twenty-piece Souscription N°1 with a retrograde date. His debut will provide an early indication of how effectively the venture can translate workshop talent into a coherent, deliverable collection.
Features
Abdul El-Sayed’s Watch Collection Has Enthusiasts Paying Attention
Michigan senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed’s interest in watches extends beyond the familiar luxury names associated with public office. His election-night Grand Seiko Spring Drive Chronograph brought attention to a collection that reflects a particular enthusiasm for mechanically interesting, highly functional watches.
The Grand Seiko combines chronograph and GMT functions, while other reported choices include a Mühle-Glashütte Rescue-Timer, Sinn U1 S E, Omega Speedmaster, and Detroit-associated Shinola Runwell. Together, they suggest an owner drawn to different kinds of watchmaking rather than a single recognizable status symbol.
The feature considers the inevitable public discussion surrounding an expensive watch on a politician’s wrist, while also examining the collecting interests behind it. For enthusiasts, the variety is part of the appeal: these are choices with individual stories attached.
Are Client Expectations Changing Faster Than the Watch Industry?
Luxury customers increasingly expect the experience surrounding a purchase to justify the promise of the product. Heritage, craftsmanship, and exclusivity remain relevant, but they carry less weight when the interaction feels impersonal or inattentive.
This guest column argues for service built around understanding the individual customer. Remembering preferences, recognizing personal milestones, and providing thoughtful follow-up can matter more than pushing a transaction forward quickly. In watchmaking, patience can be part of the pleasure when it is accompanied by clear communication and consideration.
The broader opportunity is to sustain relationships through shared interests. Retailers and brands that remain useful between purchases can give customers a reason to stay engaged long after the excitement of a new acquisition has passed.
New Watches
Yema Senans Grande Lune CMM.22 Brings a Luminous Moon to a Slim Dress Watch
Yema’s Senans Grande Lune introduces a distinctive moonphase display within a 38.5mm stainless-steel dress watch. A luminous lunar element works with a rotating mask to give the complication a particularly visible identity, while the stepped polished bezel and textured dial provide a more traditional setting.
The proprietary automatic CMM.22 uses a micro-rotor and delivers a 70-hour power reserve. At approximately 8.7mm thick overall, the watch combines compact proportions with 50 meters of water resistance. Black, blue, and gold-toned dials are each limited to 200 pieces, with leather-strap and mesh-bracelet options. Approximate prices: US$2,760 on leather; US$2,870 on mesh.
HTD Aquatic GMT Offers Familiar Styling With a Traveler-Friendly Movement
HTD extends its Aquatic platform with a GMT that combines vintage sports-watch proportions and practical travel functionality. The 39mm stainless-steel case offers 200 meters of water resistance, a domed sapphire crystal, and a three-link steel bracelet.
Inside, the Miyota 9075 automatic movement provides an independently adjustable local hour hand, allowing travelers to change local time without disturbing the running minutes. Four color combinations include a familiar red-and-blue bezel treatment, while luminous details and a bidirectional bezel support everyday use. The design will appeal to collectors who enjoy established GMT styling, although bracelet quality, finishing, and bezel feel remain important elements of its value proposition. Approximate price: US$1,118.
Serica 8315 Travel Chronometer Golden Green Finds a Warmer Palette
Serica’s latest 8315 shows how substantially color can change the character of an established watch. Its olive-green enameled dial is paired with an ivory and golden-green ceramic bezel, creating a softer appearance than more conventional high-contrast GMT combinations.
The stainless-steel case measures 39mm and maintains 200 meters of water resistance. A COSC-certified Soprod C125 automatic GMT movement supplies a 42-hour power reserve, while the Expedition bracelet combines a mesh structure with distinctive textured end links. The lollipop GMT hand and asymmetric bezel scales reinforce Serica’s recognizable design vocabulary. Approximate price: US$2,340, converted from the tax-inclusive European price.
Luminox Master Carbon SEAL Automatic Chronograph Adds Mechanical Capability
The Luminox Master Carbon SEAL Automatic Chronograph brings a Swiss automatic chronograph movement to the brand’s rugged tool-watch formula. Its 45mm CARBONOX+ case keeps the weight relatively low for a watch of this size, with the supplied specification listing approximately 121 grams.
A Sellita SW500 movement provides chronograph, day, and date functions alongside a stated 62-hour power reserve. Water resistance is 200 meters, and the watch combines a sapphire crystal, screw-down crown, and black technical strap with continuously illuminated gas-tube markers. An exhibition back adds a view of the mechanical movement to an otherwise purposefully utilitarian presentation. Price: US$3,195.
Nomos Club Sport Neomatik 34 All Silver Keeps the Sports Watch Quiet
Nomos gives the Club Sport Neomatik 34 a restrained monochromatic treatment with a silver-plated dial, pale luminous details, and discreet gold-colored neomatik lettering. The polished 34mm stainless-steel case is only 8.2mm thick, making this a notably compact interpretation of a capable everyday sports watch.
The in-house DUW 3001 automatic movement provides a 42-hour power reserve, while a screw-down crown and 200-meter water resistance support practical daily wear. A matching steel bracelet combines polished and satin-finished surfaces, and buyers can choose a solid or sapphire caseback. The appeal lies in the balance between modest dimensions, mechanical interest, and a deliberately understated appearance. Approximate prices: US$3,040 with solid caseback; US$3,380 with sapphire caseback.
Piaget Andy Warhol Camouflage Turns Ornamental Stone Into Wearable Art
Piaget draws on Andy Warhol’s camouflage self-portraits for a limited edition that makes decorative craftsmanship the main event. Contrasting sodalite and turquoise elements combine with yellow and rose gold to create an intricate, dimensional dial inside a 45mm white-gold cushion-shaped case.
Dauphine-style hands maintain a clear connection to the collection’s established design, while Warhol’s signature appears on the caseback. The automatic 501P1 movement offers a 40-hour power reserve, and the watch is presented on a blue alligator strap. Production is limited to 86 pieces, referencing the 1986 camouflage works that inspired the design. Approximate price: US$90,300.
Comparisons
Timex Easy Reader vs. Amazon Essentials: Small Prices, Noticeable Differences
Two inexpensive quartz watches demonstrate why basic specifications rarely tell the whole story. Both the Timex Easy Reader and Amazon Essentials Easy to Read offer straightforward timekeeping and modest water resistance, but the review finds meaningful differences in comfort, legibility, and everyday execution.
The 35mm Timex pairs clear numerals with an expansion bracelet and Indiglo illumination. Its smaller dimensions and full-dial lighting help it function as an uncomplicated daily companion, although the small crown and calendar adjustment have their limitations.
The approximately US$23 Amazon Essentials offers a larger 42mm case and a leather strap, but reflections, strap stiffness, and limited nighttime visibility undermine its practicality. For a watch intended to make telling the time easy, those details can justify spending a little more.
Reviews
JM Fleury Chronograph Openwork Reveals the Craft Behind the Complication
Jean-Marc Fleury’s Chronograph Openwork puts its mechanical construction prominently on display. A titanium case and sapphire-covered openings reveal the hand-wound FM04 movement, whose architecture reinterprets the respected Lemania 2310 chronograph tradition.
The interest extends beyond exposed gears. Black-polished steel bridges, an openworked main plate, and a day/night indication create a carefully composed view of the mechanism. The larger movement architecture also incorporates technical changes to the chronograph drive and substantial in-house component production.
Fleury’s background in manufacturing helps explain the watch’s emphasis on execution. The business combines component supply with its own finished watches, giving the project an industrial foundation beneath its artisanal ambitions. The CHF59,000 price translates to approximately US$72,000.
Bulova A-11 “Jimmy” Brings Military Simplicity Into Everyday Wear
The Bulova A-11 “Jimmy” revisits the visual language of wartime field watches with a matte black dial, bright hands, railway-style minute track, and coin-edge bezel. Its appeal begins with legibility and a design that gives each element a clear purpose.
Modern specifications make the historical appearance easier to live with. The 37mm case measures 11.2mm thick, while the Miyota 9039 automatic movement provides hacking seconds and a 42-hour power reserve. Water resistance is 50 meters.
An olive-toned textile strap with leather lining completes the presentation, and quick-release fittings simplify changes. At US$795, the limited edition offers an accessible way to enjoy the A-11’s familiar military character without relying on a vintage movement.
A Closer Look at Yema’s Senans Grande Lune CMM.22
A second examination of Yema’s moonphase dress watch focuses on the relationship between its architectural inspiration and mechanical packaging. The Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans informs the semicircular geometry, while the textured dial gives the luminous Moon a detailed background.
The 38.5mm case and approximately 8.7mm thickness keep the watch within traditional dress-watch proportions. Its micro-rotor CMM.22 movement allows a view through the caseback and supports the unusual moonphase presentation without requiring a bulky case.
Three dial colors, each limited to 200 pieces, give buyers distinct versions of the same idea. Approximate converted prices are US$2,760 on leather and US$2,870 on mesh. The attraction is the combination of a recognizable complication with an execution that feels specific to Yema.
Tutima Patria 6612 Combines Titanium Comfort With Traditional Glashütte Watchmaking
Tutima’s Patria 6612-09 presents a classical dial and manually wound manufacture movement in a lightweight titanium case. The 41mm watch pairs a silver-white dial with gold hands and markers, creating a warmer appearance than the case material might initially suggest.
The hand-wound Caliber 617 supplies a 65-hour power reserve. Its three-quarter plate and gold-chaton decoration give collectors familiar Glashütte details to examine, while the dial texture and subsidiary seconds display maintain interest on the front.
The review emphasizes versatility and comfort as much as movement decoration. A mahogany-colored leather strap and 50-meter water resistance complete a watch intended to bridge formal and everyday settings. The European price converts to approximately US$9,610.
DWC Terra: How an Inexpensive Carabiner Watch Became a Collector Obsession
Delhi Watch Company’s Terra demonstrates how an unexpected design can generate enthusiasm far beyond its price. The small rectangular quartz watch uses a carabiner-inspired case structure that accommodates different straps and alternative ways of carrying it.
The 32mm stainless-steel case houses a Miyota GL32 movement and offers 50-meter water resistance. Different surface treatments give the otherwise straightforward object considerable personality, while its roughly ₹4,499 original price places it within reach of a broad audience.
Availability has been a different matter. Rapid sellouts and reported resale premiums have turned an affordable watch into a difficult acquisition. The review considers that tension alongside plans for another batch in March 2027 and a subsequent updated version.
Certina DS Action Diver 38mm PVD Black Adds Color to a Serious Tool Watch
Certina gives its black PVD-coated 38mm diver orange and teal accents while retaining the engineering that defines the DS Action collection. The colored bezel details, dial flange, and seconds hand create a more expressive version of a deliberately functional design.
The Powermatic 80 automatic movement delivers an 80-hour power reserve, and water resistance is rated at 300 meters. The Double Security construction and screw-down crown reinforce the watch’s practical credentials.
The review also identifies everyday compromises. The watch feels substantial for its diameter, and the bracelet clasp lacks micro-adjustment. At a published £860, approximately US$1,150 at the reference exchange rate, the package merits attention from buyers who prioritize durability and reserve capacity while remaining particular about fit.
Editorial
FHH Summit 2026: Education Is Part of Watchmaking’s Infrastructure
The FHH Watch Summit in New York placed education at the center of the industry’s future. Training watchmakers preserves essential skills, while educating retail teams and consumers helps those skills become better understood and appreciated.
Participants discussed the importance of schools, professional development, and broader access to reliable information. Technical knowledge supports the people making and servicing watches, but it also improves the conversations that take place across a sales counter or inside a collector community.
Social media can introduce a new audience to watchmaking while also compressing complicated subjects into misleading impressions. The summit’s argument is that deeper understanding helps sustain both the craft and its customers. A healthy industry needs enough people who know how watches work—and enough people who care to find out.
Events
Watchonista Prepares Live Coverage of Saturday’s GPHG Ceremony
The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève takes place on Saturday, November 7, at Geneva’s Bâtiment des Forces Motrices. The 26th ceremony will bring the year’s finalists together for an evening recognizing achievement across contemporary watchmaking.
Live coverage is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. CET, equivalent to 12:30 p.m. Eastern. Watchonista’s coverage gives readers a way to follow the presentations and see which watches receive the jury’s recognition.
The awards also provide a useful occasion to look beyond personal favorites. The range of nominated creations offers a concentrated view of the technical, decorative, and design priorities shaping the industry.
IAMWATCH Singapore Brings Independent Makers and Collectors Together
IAMWATCH returns to The Singapore EDITION from November 12–15, with a program bringing together 45 independent watchmakers. Admission is complimentary, with registration required.
The gathering combines direct access to makers with technical discussions, screenings, and new-watch presentations. The George Daniels 100 exhibition is a particular attraction, with 22 timepieces offering a substantial encounter with one of modern independent watchmaking’s defining figures.
Participants include established names and emerging workshops, making the event a place to examine both the history and future of independent horology. Its relaxed atmosphere is intended to encourage the conversations that can be difficult to have through photographs and specifications alone.
Podcasts
Scottish Watches Podcast #829: November’s Latest New Watch Releases
Scottish Watches surveys a busy selection of releases, moving from Audemars Piguet’s Supersonnerie minute repeaters to the Louis Erard collaboration with Vianney Halter. Chiming mechanisms and strong design identities give the episode plenty of material beyond conventional product announcements.
The discussion also includes Citizen’s Series 8 GMT, Yema’s Spacecraft Ur-Sideral Tourbillon Volant, Christopher Ward’s C1 Loco Classic, and Hautlence’s spherical jumping-hour display. The variety makes this an engaging overview of how differently brands are approaching the same challenge: giving collectors something worth noticing.
Fratello Talks: Recent Shifts in the Watch Industry
Fratello considers the business decisions reshaping established watch brands. The discussion covers developments involving Ebel, F.P. Journe, and Chanel, alongside reports concerning Zenith’s possible restructuring.
Ownership changes and strategic repositioning can influence much more than the next collection. The hosts consider how those decisions affect brand identity, product direction, and the expectations of existing customers. It is a useful accompaniment to today’s stories about the resources and organization required to sustain watchmaking.
Videos
12 Dive Watches That Go With Everything — Chisholm Hunter
Chisholm Hunter explores the dive watch as an everyday companion, highlighting models from Longines, Rolex, Blancpain, and other familiar names. The focus is versatility: which designs retain their practical credentials while fitting comfortably into different parts of daily life?
The selection considers appearance and durability alongside underwater capability. For collectors seeking one watch to wear frequently, it offers a starting point for thinking about proportions, styling, and how much sporting character feels right on the wrist.
Fratello Talks: Recent Shifts in the Watch Industry — Fratello
The video version of Fratello’s discussion examines the changing business landscape behind familiar watch names. Developments surrounding Ebel and reports about Zenith provide the starting point for a wider conversation about ownership and direction.
The questions extend to collectors: how much of a brand’s identity survives a strategic change, and what should existing enthusiasts expect from its next chapter? Watching the discussion adds the visual presentation to the podcast conversation featured above.
The Crowdfunded Watch Design From 200 Years Ago — Subdial, Drop #302
Subdial begins with the Breguet Classique Souscription and the historical idea of customers helping finance a watch before delivery. That background provides an appealing connection to today’s discussion of how independent watchmaking finds support.
The selection also includes a vintage Rolex GMT-Master and a contemporary Girard-Perregaux. Rather than forcing the watches into one narrow category, the episode invites viewers to compare different periods, design approaches, and reasons for collecting.
Inside the Underground Rivalry to Clone the Rolex Submariner — Chrono-Fi
Chrono-Fi examines counterfeit Submariner production through the rivalry between operations known as VSF and Clean Factory. The presentation compares claimed approaches to materials, movements, and manufacturing, while investigating the supply chains behind the watches.
The subject is relevant to the confidence on which the secondary market depends. Increasingly convincing appearances make a seller’s accountability, an individual watch’s provenance, and competent inspection meaningful parts of a purchase.
The Phillips and Vacheron Constantin Concours d’Élégance — Phillips Watches
Phillips presents a look at its Concours d’Élégance with Vacheron Constantin, bringing attention to the design and craftsmanship of the participating watches. The event offers a setting in which historical character and careful execution can receive sustained attention.
For viewers following Geneva’s auction activity, the presentation provides a complementary perspective. Individual watches can reward examination for reasons that extend well beyond their estimates or eventual selling prices.
Auctions
Geneva Fall Auctions Mega-Preview, Part 2: Phillips, Sotheby’s, and Marteau & Co.
The second installment of this Geneva preview surveys an unusually rich field of vintage watches, modern complications, and independent creations. Phillips highlights include a Rolex ref. 6062 “Stelline,” rare F.P. Journe watches, and a steel Patek Philippe ref. 1436 with expectations extending beyond CHF2 million.
Sotheby’s contributes further Patek interest, including an early production ref. 3970J and a Sky Moon Tourbillon. The selection gives collectors ample reason to study provenance, dial configuration, condition, and accompanying documentation rather than treating familiar reference numbers as interchangeable.
Marteau & Co.’s Blueprint sale adds another dimension through pieces such as a blue-dial Philippe Dufour Simplicity and work from Kallinich Claeys. Together, the offerings illustrate the breadth of today’s auction audience, from established vintage landmarks to highly individual contemporary watchmaking.
Watches for ELA 2026 Brings Unique Creations to a Charitable Auction
Christie’s Watches for ELA auction on November 9 brings together special creations supporting research into leukodystrophies and assistance for affected families. The charitable purpose gives the sale a distinct identity, while the watches offer an unusually varied selection of materials and ideas.
Highlights include Zinedine Zidane’s first Cartier Pasha Chronograph, a pink-accented Maurice Lacroix Master Grand Date Retrograde, and a Montblanc Iced Sea with a subfossil-wood dial. Other participating names range from established manufacturers to small independent workshops.
The wider catalog includes ornamental-stone dials, elaborate gem setting, and ambitious complications. For collectors, it offers an opportunity to examine work made for a specific occasion while contributing to ELA’s mission.
BuyingTime at Auction
After a US$91,500 Cubitus No-Sale, a Freshly Serviced Lange Makes Its Case
The November 5 auction of the 2026 Patek Philippe Cubitus Date ref. 7128/1R-001 in rose gold with a sunburst brown dial and matching bracelet reached US$91,500 without meeting its reserve.
Today’s featured watch takes a more traditional approach: a 2023 A. Lange & Söhne 1815 Annual Calendar ref. 238.026 in white gold with a silver dial. Located in the United States, this pre-owned example includes box, papers, and service documentation. The supplied condition report describes an excellent dial and minor wear to the case and bezel, with the particularly useful addition of an A. Lange & Söhne service receipt dated June 2026.
Introduced in 2017, the 1815 Annual Calendar offered a classical, manually wound alternative to Lange’s automatic Saxonia Annual Calendar. Arabic numerals, a railway minute track, and blued-steel hands connect its appearance to the manufacture’s pocket-watch traditions. Its 40mm white-gold case measures 10.1mm thick, and the argenté dial is made from solid silver. The calendar accommodates the differing lengths of 30- and 31-day months, requiring its scheduled annual correction at the end of February when kept running.
The hand-wound L051.3 movement provides a 72-hour power reserve and combines day, date, and month indications with a moonphase display calculated to accumulate one day of error after 122.6 years. A pusher at 2 o’clock advances the calendar indications together, making resetting more convenient after the watch has stopped. Through the sapphire back, the German-silver three-quarter plate, screwed gold chatons, and hand-engraved balance cock give the owner the finishing details that make Lange ownership compelling beyond the complication itself.
Published market references provide useful boundaries rather than a single definitive value. Advertisements have included US$36,955 for an older example now marked sold out and US$39,900 for another box-and-papers watch; neither figure establishes a verified transaction price. Ineichen separately records a CHF26,000 hammer result for a 2018 example with box and papers—approximately US$31,700 at the reference exchange rate used for this issue, rather than the sale-date rate. Today’s newer watch and documented factory service support its appeal, although service scope, case condition, and the original buckle remain relevant to comparison. The auction is scheduled to end at 8:45 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, November 7, 2026.
Current bid: $1,100
Losing Time
Today’s Big Losers at Auction on Grailzee
Four watches, four asking prices, and four reminders that bidders are under no obligation to finance a seller’s optimism. The high bids finished between 21.6% and 42.2% below asking, leaving a combined $42,600 gap between expectations and actual offers.
The 2023 Rolex Sky-Dweller 42MM Black Dial in yellow gold on an Oyster bracelet (326938) drew a $38,300 bid against a $52,000 ask. That’s a $13,700 shortfall, or 26.3% below asking. Apparently, the gold was solid; the pricing support was somewhat less so.
The 2026 Rolex Sky-Dweller 42MM Blue Dial in rose gold on a Jubilee bracelet (336935) attracted the highest offer of the group at $60,000. Unfortunately, the seller was looking for $76,500, leaving $16,500 on the wish list—a 21.6% miss. It came closest in percentage terms, but “closest” still required someone to find another sixteen-and-a-half grand.
The 2025 Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT “Yoshida” Limited Edition 42MM Blue Dial on a textile strap (103889) had the biggest percentage reality check. Against a $13,500 ask, the $7,800 bid fell $5,700 short, or 42.2% below asking. Limited edition, it seems, does not automatically mean unlimited enthusiasm.
The Hublot Big Bang Meca-10 King Gold 45MM Skeleton Dial on a leather strap (414.OI.1123.RX) received an $18,000 high bid against a $24,700 ask—a $6,700 gap, or 27.1% below asking. Plenty of mechanical drama on the dial, followed by a fairly predictable plot twist at the bidding deadline.
Together, the four sellers asked $166,700 and attracted $124,100 in bids, a combined 25.6% shortfall. Both Rolexes drew substantial offers, but neither cleared the seller’s expectations. The Bvlgari showed the widest disconnect, while the Hublot missed by roughly the same percentage as the older Rolex. These four results suggest that completing a sale would require meaningful movement on price or a different pool of buyers. An asking price can start the conversation; it cannot make the other side agree.
Closing Time
The most rewarding watches often become more interesting as we learn about the people and decisions behind them. Today’s issue offers plenty of reasons to keep looking—from an emerging maker’s first twenty pieces to a familiar complication executed with exceptional care.
Enjoy the weekend’s auctions and awards, make time for something unfamiliar, and remember that the watch worth owning is the one that continues to hold your attention after the announcement has passed.
Thanks for spending part of your day with Buying Time. We’ll see you Monday.
