“Thank you, thank you very much!” That’s what the folks at Antiquorum Auctioneers might be saying today to the private collector who acquired the showcase piece at this week’s auction in New York, an Omega Constellation once owned by the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley. The watch sold for an astounding $52,500, five times its pre-sale estimate and a world record for that reference.
Elvis’s Omega, a rare, black-dialed Constellation Calendar produced around 1960, was the most high-profile of 269 timepieces on the block at Antiquorum’s “Important Vintage and Modern Timepieces” auction, held at its Manhattan headquarters on June 12. The watch has an automatic chronometer movement with center seconds and date and a steel case with rose-gold plating. Antiquorum put the pre-sale estimate at $10,000 to $20,000, but bids for the coveted piece of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia quickly escalated to a final hammer price of $52,500. The winning bidder received, in addition to the watch, a letter of attestation from Charlie Hodge, the watch’s onetime owner, a longtime friend and confidant of Presley and a member of the so-called “Memphis Mafia.”
Antiquorum watch expert Nathaniel Borgelt told WatchTime about the Omega’s provenance. “Elvis gave the watch to Hodge while in the army after Hodge expressed his admiration of the piece,” Borgelt said. “To quote Charlie, ‘Several times I told Elvis how beautiful his watch was, and I said, “One of these days I’m going to buy one of those.” Elvis said, “Charlie, you don’t have to wait any longer,” and he took it off his wrist and gave it to me.’”
“We are exceptionally pleased with the result for Elvis Presley’s Omega Constellation in today’s sale,” said Evan Zimmermann, president and CEO of Antiquorum Auctioneers. “Antiquorum is proud to add to its growing list of world records for timepieces with important provenance that includes Gandhi’s Zenith pocket watch, Steve McQueen’s Rolex and Einstein’s Longines.”
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