The Rolex “Starship Gold” bracelet watch circa 1980 is one of the highlights of Sotheby’s April watch auction featuring timepieces with unconventional designs crafted of non-traditional materials. It is estimated to sell for up to $13,500.
Geneva—Next month, Sotheby’s will host a UFO-themed auction of timepieces made with “seemingly alien” designs and materials.
The “Area_51” watch sale, named for the highly classified United States military base in Nevada notorious for its association with conspiracy theories around extraterrestrial life, will feature 51 lots of “futuristic timepieces,” according to the auction house.
It’s set to take place April 1-3 in Geneva, coinciding with the international trade show Watches & Wonders.
The auction will feature a blend of vintage and modern watches estimated to sell for between 2,000 CHF and 200,000 CHF ($2,250 to $224,950).
The offering includes timepieces from avant-garde brands such as Urwerk, MB&F, De Bethune, and Gérald Genta, as well as rare references from top watchmakers like Patek Philippe, Rolex, and Audemars Piguet.
A rare white gold wristwatch by Gérald Genta, circa 1990. The piece is set with diamonds and boasts a mother-of-pearl dial and minute-repeating perpetual calendar with a leap-year indicator (est. 100,000 CHF to 200,000 CHF, or $112,290 to $224,580).
A highlight of the sale is a Rolex “Starship Gold” bracelet watch circa 1980, pictured at the top of the article.
Its avant-garde design is “a rare deviation” from the brand’s traditional aesthetic, said Sotheby’s, and its unconventional shape has a UFO-like effect. The watch is estimated to sell for 8,000 CHF to 12,000 CHF ($9,000 to $13,500).
Also on offer is a Patek Philippe Ref. 4233/1 circa 1973, featuring an elaborate bracelet estimated to sell for up to 40,000 CHF ($44,000), as well as an Audemars Piguet “Starwheel” Automatic with design roots dating back to the 17th century.
The Starwheel’s “wandering hours” display (where a rotating hour numeral moves across a minute scale before transitioning to the next hour) was originally devised for Pope Alexander VII, who sought a quieter alternative to his traditional bedroom clock.
Audemars Piguet introduced their modern interpretation of the concept in 1991 with reference 25720, developing a layout with three rotating sapphire discs, each with four numerals, with the active digit aligning with the top scale to indicate the time.
It is estimated to sell for 20,000 CHF to 40,000 CHF ($22,470 to $44,950).
A rare Patek Philippe Ref. 4233/1 from the 1970s, featuring a yellow gold, lapis lazuli, malachite, and turquoise bracelet watch, circa 1973 (est. 20,000 CHF to 40,000 CHF, or $22,470 to $44,950)
The Audemars Piguet “Starwheel” Ref. 25720OR in rose gold with satellite hour display, made in 1994
Another Audemars Piguet watch, one of the very first in the brand’s “Concept” series of watches that was limited to 150 pieces, is also a highlight.
The Royal Oak Concept “CW1” Ref. 25980AI, circa 2002, is made with alacrite, a key material in the production of rockets, Sotheby’s said. It is estimated to fetch 100,000 CHF to 200,000 CHF ($112,290 to $224,580).
The sale also includes two new references designed and produced specifically for the auction.
One is the b/2 by Toledano & Chan, a unique take on the b/1, one of the brand’s trademark architectural watch designs. The b/2 is inspired by fighter jets, specifically the Lockheed Martin F-117 Stealth fighter, which Sotheby’s said was developed at the Lockheed skunkworks facility, located in Area 51.
The case is sandblasted matte grey steel, and the dial is a 24-karat gold plate, as gold was used extensively in the f-117 for thermal shielding.
It’s estimated to fetch 8,000 CHF to 12,000 CHF ($9,000 to $13,500).
A one-of-one watch by Toledano & Chan up for offer at Sotheby’s “Area_51” watch sale, featuring a case with almost no right angles and asymmetrical crystal designed to scatter and reflects light
This “Disco Tantale” watch from Furlan Marri features a tantalum case—a material never used before by the brand—along with the hand-wound Caliber 7001 movement from Peseux, redesigned bridges, hand-finished diamond-polished edges, and a black-polished crown wheel and screws.
The other one-of-one watch designed for the sale is a Furlan Marri timepiece. The watch is a unique variation on the brand’s “Disco Volante” series, which embodied themes of Art Deco elegance and ‘80s disco energy.
It is crafted from a meteorite dial and housed in a tantalum case, two materials Sotheby’s said are “notoriously challenging to master.”
It is estimated to sell for 6,000 CHF to 12,000 CHF ($6,740 to $13,500).
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The auction will be hosted at La Salle Trocmé, where the exhibition area and saleroom will be designed to resemble a top-secret alien research station.
The immersive experience is a collaboration between Sotheby’s and creative watch collective heist-out, a group it partnered with last year on the “Rough Diamonds” vintage watch auction hosted in an underground cellar.
“After unearthing hidden gems from the underground, it was time to look up—to the sky. This year, the vision is bigger: a wider selection of watches, a more ambitious project, and a story that reaches beyond,” said Maxime Couturier and Lorenzo Maillard, co-founders of heist-out.
“Area_51 is our latest collaborative initiative—a tribute to the boldest, most unconventional watch designs and the creative minds behind these UFO-like timepieces. Free from the constraints of era or tradition, Area_51 recontextualizes the extraordinary, challenging perceptions and sparking new conversations about time, design, and the unknown.”
The auction will also feature a Ressence Type 3AM, an oil-filled mechanical watch made specifically for the American Market in 2017. The titanium wristwatch is estimated to fetch 24,000 CHF to 40,000 CHF ($26,950 to $44,950).
The white gold and diamond-set Urwerk Ref. 103.06, featuring a triple base plate, hour satellites, orbital cross, control board, and power reserve indicator, circa 2007, is estimated to sell for 30,000 CHF to 60,000 CHF ($33,690 to $67,370).
A white gold and diamond-set Patek Philippe bracelet watch retailed by Asprey, reference 4117/1G that is estimated to sell for 50,000 CHF to 100,000 CHF ($56,140 to $112,290). It features a dial adorned with preserved wings from the Morpho Menelaus butterfly wings dial, circa 1973.
Manon Hagie, Sotheby’s watch specialist who oversaw the curation of Area_51, said that, following the success of Rough Diamonds, the auction house was keen to revisit the experiential sale format.
“Our imperative was to ensure they were different, whilst retaining their essence,” Hagie said. “Last year’s theme took us to the depths of the earth, and this year’s theme, extraterrestrial wristwear, blasts us onto a galactic journey filled with out-of-this-world watches. ”
Ahead of the sale, Sotheby’s and heist-out will distribute collectible trading cards depicting all 51 timepieces.
When the entire set is assembled, it will form a special pattern.
The three-day sale will open with a themed public wristwatch exhibition open from 4 to 8 p.m. on April 1. The exhibition will continue from 4 to 6 p.m. on April 2, followed by an evening reception.
The live auction will take place on April 3 from 5 to 6 p.m.
