NEW WORLD RECORD OF $4.2 MILLION FOR VINTAGE OMEGA SPEEDMASTER AT AUCTION

Check out this perfectly aged Omega Speedmaster CK2915-1, including an aged-by-sunlight, “tropical” milk-chocolate dial, which sold today at Phillips Auction House in Geneva for 3,115,500 CHF (around $4.25 million CAD, $3.4 million USD).

Related: Paul Newman vintage Rolex scores record sale figure at New York watch auction

The estimated auction price for the piece was 80,000 to 120,000 Swiss Francs, so this one shocked some people. The Omega Speedmaster was among the first batch of watches released in 1957 as part of the brand’s “Trilogy” of professional watches, which also included the Seamaster 300 and Railmaster.

Collectors consider the first generation model – the Omega Speedmaster CK 2915 – “the grail”

This timepiece hasn’t been stored, like a lot of vintage watches. This one has been worn and loved, with a lifetime of stories behind it. The luminous material on the dial and hands has aged at the same pace. The uniformity of that golden tone confirms the watch hasn’t undergone disruptive servicing at all. 

Omega watches with the reference number CK2915 were only made between 1957 and 1959, produced in just three iterations. That makes the CK2915-1 one of the very first and most collectible of the Omega Speedmaster models.

Look closer, and you’re see a few other details on the watch that distinguish it – the large “Broad Arrow” minute and hour hands, the metal bezel and unique dial graphics. The first generation model (CK2915) was the first chronograph to feature a tachymeter scale on the bezel, rather than the dial. It was the first Omega Speedmaster to be powered from the Calibre 321, considered a robust and reliable movement.