A collection of love and passion

The Davide Blei Vintage Rolex Collection

One of the finest collections of Rolex watches in the world
22 March 2009, Grand Hotel et de Milan, Milan

In this, the centennial year of Rolex – Patrizzi & Co are proud to be offering at auction one of the world’s most prestigious collections of Rolex watches – the Davide Blei Vintage Rolex Collection.

From the very beginning, Davide Blei collected only the very best examples of what he considered to be the two most important watch brands in existence – Rolex and Patek Philippe. “I chose Rolex for the beauty of their watches,” says Blei. “Rolex are not as well known for their internal mechanisms as for their extremely beautiful cases and dials - the way they combine these two major elements of a watch is pure excellence. They have a wonderful way of putting color, metals, and tones together.”

All for love

Like many avid collectors, Blei was first introduced to watch collecting in a less than expected way. “I started collecting wristwatches because I fell in love with a woman who had an antique jewelry shop in Padua,” he chuckles. “From time to time she went to fairs and exhibitions to sell her jewelry and I, not wanting to let her go alone, accompanied her and got to see these things for myself … and I fell in love with the watches. I had never thought about watches before (I was born in 1943 and only started collecting watches in 1984). This is where and how I courted my wife and, because I always do things in extreme, I bought and bought and bought.”

At first he didn’t understand anything about watch mechanisms, but as his passion grew he bought books and studied watchmaking and, after two or three years, began to appreciate what is important and why – as he says, “If you have passion then it’s not very difficult to learn.”

His hunger to satisfy his passion and his insatiable curiosity led him to attend auctions all around the world – Hong Kong, Japan, New York, and Geneva – buying the best pieces at these sales, and he soon got to know all the people involved in the watch business. “This was part of my life – and it still is,” he confirms. “I was an advertising man specializing in media buying and planning for companies all around the world and traveled a lot for my work, but also and quite separately, for my collections – that was my passion.”

Simply the best examples

Inevitably, Blei’s Collection will be compared with the Mondani Rolex Collection which was sold by Antiquorum in 2006. Where Mondani’s collection was probably one of the most comprehensive collections ever made of Rolex watches, Blei’s collection is made up of probably the most exquisite examples of vintage Rolex that you are ever likely to see – his criteria always being to buy only the very best.

Typically, Rolex watches have become a passion for many Latino watch lovers – so much so that collectors insist on calling Rolex references by more affectionate names such as the Stelline, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Jean-Claude Killy, and James Blei’s collection includes exceptional examples of most of these watches as well as some rare Stelline Ref 6062s, several of the famous Daytonas, and several unique mini collections, including important chronographs, and a collection of personalized watches - all with individual logos on the dial. Of the watches in the collection that are very much currently “in vogue” there are some superb examples of the Submariner, the GMT, the Explorer, and the Sea Dweller.

One of the many aspects that attracted Davide Blei to Rolex watches was their very purity and beauty. “You can clearly see a sense of technicity and mastery of their art in their unique dials,” says Blei. “Rolex made dials that nobody else made – triple scale, telemeter, Daytona, different colors in the scale – all absolutely unique dials.”

An avid collector Davide Blei believes that collecting is all a matter of taste, “You cannot teach taste,” he says, “you either have it or you don’t.” And clearly Blei has exquisite taste - as his Rolex Collection testifies.

Highlights of the sale:

The Davide Blei Vintage Rolex Collection
22 March 2009, Grand Hotel et de Milan, Milan

Lot 112: Ref 6062
Pink gold Rolex Super-Oyster “Stelline”, Perpetual Officially Certified Chronometer made in 1951.
Estimate: € 150,000 – 200,000

Lot 114: Ref 3525
Pink gold monochrome “Monoblocco” Rolex Oyster Chronograph Antimagnetic with pink dial made in 1940.
Estimate: € 70,000 – 90,000

Lot 65: Ref 6264
Stainless steel “Paul Newman”, Rolex Cosmograph Daytona with white dial, black subdials and black bezel made in 1970.
Estimate: € 40,000 – 60,000

Lot 41: Ref 1680
Yellow gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date “Submariner” 660 ft/200 m, Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified made in 1973.
Estimate: € 15,000 – 20,000

Davide Blei – collector extraordinaire

The auction will take place on 22 March 2009 at the Grand Hotel et de Milan, Milan.

World tour exhibitions:
21 – 23 November 2008, Catania Watch and Luxury Fair
25 – 27 November 2008, Asprey, New Bond Street London
4 – 6 December 2008, Patrizzi & Co, Geneva
5 – 7 March 2009, Patrizzi & Co, New York
18 – 21 March 2009, and 22 March in the morning, Patrizzi & Co, Milan

Davide Blei will be present at all these events and available for interviews (he’s a compulsive collector and very interesting to talk to on the subject of creating collections).