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Antiquorum - The Sandberg Watch Collection" Auction Geneva, March 31st and April 1st, 2001 - Awaited with enthusiasm and excitement by watch collectors worldwide, "The Sandberg Watch Collection" is the first major international auction event of the 21st century. Antiquorum's auction season of 2001 starts with the prestigious watch collection of Lord Sandberg, which will take place on March 31st and April 1st, in Geneva, Switzerland, at the Hotel Richemond. Prior to the auction, the collection will go on a world tour with exhibitions in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Geneva (see separate release). The "Sandberg Watch Collection" is a unique collection of 433 timepieces, one of the most outstanding still in private hands. With a global value of about 15 million Swiss Francs, it comprises some of the world’s most remarkable enameled watches and musical watches with automaton scenes, often produced for the Chinese market, together with singing bird boxes, erotic watches and exquisite form watches. Spanning the years 1500s to 1900s, "The Sandberg Watch Collection" includes exceptional watches from the 16th and 17th centuries, and rare watches of major importance for their technical interest, such as an early self-winding "perpétuelle" pocket watch by Abraham-Louis Breguet, circa 1815, and an astronomical watch, made for nautical use, circa 1785, by the English watchmaker George Margetts. The collection was created by Lord Sandberg, piece by piece, with great passion, over the last 25 to 30 years, several of which he spent in Hong Kong during his career at the HongKong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, where he was Chairman from 1977 to 1986. Such passion for collecting is best left in the words of Lord Sandberg himself who recounts how he discovered the world of antique timepieces and evolved as a collector: "At the hands of Time and Chance, shall we say, my enthusiasm for old timepieces was born. My passion for horology was inspired about thirty years ago by a visit to a warehouse in Hong Kong belonging to China Arts & Crafts, an arm of the Chinese government. Among the many treasures, a deep-blue enameled watch, framed by seed pearls, caught my eye. It had a music box incorporated in it and both the watch and the music worked! I was enchanted by its beauty and thrilled with the price which was the equivalent of £ 330, or just under US$ 500. Excited by this find and several others, I was compelled to learn more about watches. I was fascinated by the intricacies of the movement in some and the sheer beauty of the design in others. My enthusiasm for timepieces became immense. Fortunately, I was taught and protected by many friends in the industry whose knowledge of horology continually enlightens me. Among my good friends in time is Antiquorum, an auction house founded in 1974 in Geneva, which is recognized as the leading international auctioneer of horology. I am particularly grateful to Osvaldo Patrizzi, chairman of Antiquorum, who revolutionized watches at auction, not to mention the watch collector’s market overall, as proven by the amazing world records Antiquorum continuously realizes. For over 25 years, I have enjoyed Antiquorum’s innovative approach to auctions, especially its theme sales. I have also benefited from Antiquorum’s expertise, as offered in every catalogue it produces. Few auction houses have been able to corral the extensive range of timepieces which Antiquorum appears to offer auction after auction; nor present their collections in as thorough and beautiful a manner. Antiquorum has been instrumental in helping me create my watch collection and in publishing a book about it." The book entitled "The Sandberg Watch Collection", highly appreciated by watch enthusiasts, collectors, and all those curious about time, is a rare horological compilation published by Antiquorum Editions in 1998. This luxuriously produced large folio volume, (30 x 41 cm.), published in a limited edition of 100 copies, with texts by Terence Camerer Cuss, layout and design by Osvaldo Patrizzi, presents the magnificent collection of Lord Sandberg. It is published in a format reminiscent of the "Catalogue of The Collection of Watches, The Property of J. Pierpont Morgan", commissioned in 1912, by the celebrated New York banker, who founded the J. P. Morgan Bank, and whose collection is now in the Metropolitan Museum. The Sandberg volume is bound in full dark green Madras morocco, the arms of Lord Sandberg gilt on the upper board, contained in a watered silk box carrying the arms of Lord Sandberg. "The Sandberg Watch Collection" describes and illustrates this unique collection in 512 pages with over 1000 color illustrations. This remarkable book will most certainly become a collector's item. visit www.antiquorum.com for more information
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