A Cartier Cheich, a rare wristwatch awarded as a prize to consecutive Paris-Dakar Rally winners, sold for a record $3.4 million in Hong Kong, becoming the most expensive Cartier wristwatch sold at auction. The record price underscores the surging interest among collectors and speculators for rare models and designs by the Paris-based watch and jewelry maison. One of only five known examples of the Cheich, the watch was produced by Cartier as a one-off, unique piece in 2010, cased in white gold and powered by a quartz movement.
Sold by Sotheby’s on the first day of its ‘Important Watches’ auction in Hong Kong on Friday, the watch spurred a nine-minute bidding war with online, telephone and in-person bidders pushing the price to HK$26,520,000 including fees or about $3,413,124, Sotheby’s said in a statement. The result eclipses the $2 million paid for a London Cartier Crash from 1991 at Christie’s Geneva auction in May. That watch bested another Crash sold by Sotheby’s just weeks before for about $1.99 million.
Cartier Cheich in white gold sold for about $3.4 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong auction.
Image: Sotheby’s
Founded in 1978 by motorcycle racer Thierry Sabine, the Paris-Dakar Rally was a legendary motor sports race of endurance, navigation and mechanical engineering, spanning some 10,000 kilometers (6,214 miles) from the French capital across the Sahara desert to Dakar, Senegal. An early sponsor of the race, Cartier and the brand’s then-president, Alain-Dominique Perrin, created the ‘Cartier Challenge’ in 1983, awarded to anyone who won the same category two years in a row.
The Cartier Challenge Trophy was a watch designed specifically for the race, inspired by the blue headscarves (‘cheich’ in French) of the nomadic Tuareg people of the Sahara. Cartier made the Cheich only for winners of the Challenge, and it was never sold to the public.
Just one person, Belgian motocross champion Gaston Rahier, ever won the trophy, winning the motorcycle race consecutively in 1984 and 1985. The Cartier Challenge ended soon after, following the death of Sabine in a helicopter crash in 1986. Of four original gold Cartier Cheich with mechanical movements believed produced, two prototypes are in Cartier’s heritage museum. An example owned by Sabine is unaccounted for and presumed lost, while Rahier’s trophy was sold at auction by Sotheby’s in 2022. It was bought by collector Eric Ku for about $1.1 million, according to GQ.
Image: Sotheby’s
The Cartier Cheich sold at auction this week in Hong Kong was commissioned and made specially in 2010 for Giorgio Seragnoli, co-author of the Cartier Bianco book and an owner of one of the most significant collections of white metal Cartier watches.
Measuring 38 millimeters in length and 27mm in width, the specially commissioned Cheich was presented on a brown leather strap with a unique presentation box and certificate labeling it No. 1 of 1.
The Cartier Cheich No. 1 of 1
Image: Sotheby’s
Meanwhile, another rare Cartier model, an example of a London Midi Pebble model produced in 1973 or 1974, also fetched a record price at the Sotheby’s Hong Kong auction, selling for HK$3,8 million or about $494,000, including fees. That’s the most ever achieved at auction for a Pebble model, topping the 2021 sale of another Pebble at Phillips for about $450,000.
The record sales followed a surprise move by the auction house to withdraw a different Cartier lot from the auction. In a statement posted online, Sotheby’s said that the Cartier London Maxi Pebble, lot 2241, was discovered to have the same case serial number as another example of the watch that was to be auctioned by Monaco Legend Auctions at a sale in October.
“Following discussions with Monaco Legend Group, we have jointly agreed to withdraw both watches from our respective sales while further research is conducted into this discrepancy,” Sotheby’s said in the statement.
“We greatly appreciate the collaboration, transparency, and professionalism demonstrated by Monaco Legends throughout this process,” Sotheby’s added.
Sotheby’s lot 2241, a Cartier London, Maxi Pebble
Image: Sotheby’s
Contacted by Hodinkee, Monaco Legend watch specialist Andrea Parmegiani said the group plans to open and disassemble the watches for closer inspection and also plans to gather further information and archival material regarding Cartier London production and procedures during the period from the brand itself. Monaco Legend also expects to consult with other Cartier vintage experts with the aim of verifying the authenticity and originality of the watches.
“These two watches are in no rush to be sold. It is incredibly important for the Cartier market and for these two Pebbles, because they are exceedingly rare and exceedingly gorgeous examples of Cartier Heritage London watches, to be sold at their very best, so there is no rush,” Parmegiani said.
We expect to follow the developments and the search for more information regarding the strange case of the Cartier Pebble watches with matching serial numbers, and will provide updates as we learn more.
For more info on Sotheby’s auctions click here.
For more info on Monaco Legend Auctions click here
