There are no end of extraordinary tales and unsolved mysteries when it comes to vintage Rolex. Indeed, one of the most captivating elements of watch enthusiasm is that with simply the passing of time new clues and answers begin to emerge as technology changes and previously unknown watches are discovered.
Such is the case with this timepiece, a watch that may help to shed more light on some of the most elusive vintage Daytona ever made – the aptly named ‘Mystery Cross’. Until recently, being found on only 3 examples of the Rolex Daytona ref. 6265, the emblem consisting of the Swiss cross surrounded by a knotted rope, had baffled collectors and scholars alike for many years.
This missing link is on offer as part of the Important Watches: Part I auction taking place at Sotheby's Geneva on 12 May.
This watch is a missing piece of the puzzle for what's remained for a long, long time
relatively a mystery.
I want to talk about one of the highlights of our upcoming sale, a Rolex 6265 from 1972.
We're calling ours the Alpine Cross.
When I went to visit the client, I was slightly shocked because I didn't expect it.
I knew that I was going to go and see a special watch, but I didn't quite realise how special.
I explained to her what the watch was, what kind of time period it came from, and she
said, oh, that's very interesting.
And what about this?
And she turned the watch over, and there was the Alpine Cross, the logo of the Swiss Alpine
Research Foundation, the foundation that supplied the Everest exhibitions for both Switzerland
and England in the early 1950s.
It was only in 2021 that an article came out that discovered exactly what the logo to the
case back was from.
Before that, the watches were simply known as mystery cross watches.
One of the most interesting images is Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Henry sat next to one
another, and to either side of them are the supply sacks, and on the supply sacks is the
same logo as the one on the case back.
The Swiss Alpine Research Foundation was founded in 1939.
One of the founding members in the late 1930s was Ernst Voigt, who we believe this watch
belonged to initially.
He then died in 1988, and it went to his brother, Walter.
We're kind of in a unique position with the support of the family.
They've been incredibly generous and incredibly useful, provided us with as much information
as they possibly can.
For the first time, the information that we have and the information that we're able to
distribute isn't speculation, which it has always been formally.
It's one of the rarest examples of an already rare watch.
This will be the fourth discovered.
It's very unlikely that a collector will get another chance to own a piece of history that's
so closely linked with the story that's unraveling around these watches.
