Auctions: Previewing The Monaco Legend Spring 2026 Auction

The spring auction season is sneaking up on us quickly. Things start early with Sotheby’s Hong Kong auction (with its boatload of Cartier), which slightly edges Monaco Legend Group out of the gate, as their auction starts one day earlier. But on April 25 and 26, MLG will open its spring auction, which promises to be one of the more interesting and eclectic vintage-focused auctions of the season. That’s not to say it’s all vintage, of course. The auction starts out with a Bamford-modified blackout GMT (that the Parmegiani family behind the auction house seems to have an affinity for), an RM35-02 Nadal, a Journe Répétition Souveraine, and more Patek 5004s than you can shake a stick at, keeping things spicy.

There are 288 lots, and while the top lots sometimes feel a bit obvious to call out (mostly because everyone likely peers longingly at these watches and wishes they could bid), it’s incredibly important to examine what is driving the top end of the market. And if you weren’t paying close enough attention, you’d potentially miss the top lot. While it might look like a Rolex Daytona, like the ref. 116509 with a Tahitian mother-of-pearl dial and different indices, this is a whole different ballgame.

Lot 78 of the auction is one of the “FAB 4” Daytonas, four unique platinum Zenith Daytonas, each executed with a hardstone dial (one with turquoise, one with lapis lazuli, two mother-of-pearl) made at the instruction of Rolex’s then-CEO Patrick Heiniger. The watches featured the unique reference 16516, and we all know how rare unique Rolex watches are. This example, with the Tahitian MOP dial, was given as a wedding gift to French novelist and screenwriter Romain Sardou when he was married to Francesca Gobbi. It also passed through the official retailer network for import into France, making it technically a commercial product. Oh, and if you look at the 6 o’clock subdial, you’ll notice that the material is a different slice of MOP, so it shines differently. The watch is well-documented and comes with a box and a guarantee, and was last sold at Sotheby’s in 2018 for around $875,000. This time, the estimate is €1,500,000 to⁠ €3,000,000. For another interesting Rolex, there’s a “Stelline” dial ref. 6062 with an €280,000 to €560,000 and a fresh-to-market ref. 6241 “John Player Special.”

Okay, that was a lot of words for one watch, so I’m going to quickly move through some of the other top lots. I’m a huge fan of the Patek Philippe ref. 3448. I find the aesthetic much bolder and cleaner than the ref. 2497 (which I’ve written about extensively). There are only three known doré-dialed ref. 3448, and MLG has the only one known with luminous hands and indices. It’s come up a few times before. It looks like it’s been worn but cared for, the dial looks strong, and the estimate is in excess of €1,000,000. For other Patek, you definitely need to check out the 605HU world time pocket watch with a cloisonné North American map, estimated at €400,000 to €800,000. 

These watches have done super well recently, with a unique example selling for over CHF 3,000,000 at Antiquorum in 2024, though that was unique. And then, of course, a steel Tasti Tondi ref. 1463 is always a killer, and this has a crazy patinaed dial that’s gone a brown/salmon dial and was retailed by Hausmann & Co. (though the signature is less than great), with an estimate of €300,000 to €600,000.

For a (slightly) more affordable but interesting Patek, there’s a ref. 2549/1 “Turtle” with an incredible Markowski case (€50,000 to €100,000) and a yellow gold, black-dialed ref. 96 with a (slightly faded) Eberhard signature (€15,000 to €30,000). The case is a bit soft, and the dial isn’t perfect, but it’s darn tempting.

It’s worth a brief diversion to Cartier, as there are some important watches from a notable collection in this sale (not just Sotheby’s, which draws from another collection), one that I would consider the most important since the “White Cartier” collection. I am curious how the market flood elsewhere will impact the Cartier market in general, but two watches stand out to me. One is the 1996 platinum Tank à Guichets made as one of three for the “Magical Art of Cartier” Auction that year. 

Eric Ku owns one of the other three. It’s not the real OG, but it’s the best modern representation of that model (with the crown at 12 o’clock), and it’s far rarer than the recent re-release last year, so it should do quite well against the €80,000 to €160,000 estimate. 

A white metal Cartier (particularly a platinum one) is a top-five watch for me. This 1930s Normale on an original platinum 9-link bracelet is incredible, though, as the owner mentioned to me, it may be a bit small for my wrist. Beggars can’t be choosers, I told him. I’m not buying a Cintrée on a bracelet in my lifetime, so this would do just fine. I’m just about €50,000 to €100,000 short of buying a great piece of history. Despite the dial condition on the previous watch and this one (earlier Cartier dials generally didn’t survive that well), the Tank Obus with enamel on the case is pretty interesting as well. For a slightly more affordable price, there’s also a unique two-movement Cintrée dual-time with a mix of Roman and Breguet-esque numerals.

There are a few higher-ticket watches that stood out to me (like lot 5, a Breguet perpetual calendar repeater). But I wanted to focus on some Vacherons that surprised me because you don’t often see such high estimates for the brand. There are two versions of the collector favorite Cioccolatone (nicknamed as such because they look like a piece of chocolate)—a triple calendar, moon phase from 1958 that is basically the ultimate version of a calendar watch from Vacheron in the era (estimate €300,000 to ⁠€600,000), and a simpler version on a bracelet with sapphire indices (€60,000 to €120,000). Finally, if you’ve never seen one of these before, MLG has one of possibly five Vacheron Reversos, made with permission of JLC in 1933. The dial is rough, as are basically all vintage Reversos, but it’s impossibly rare and super cool (and not cheap at €100,000 to €200,000). Vacheron is still undervalued on the market, but there’s some big-boy VC coming to the market this year, so this is a good chance to check how the market is trending.

The best of the rest is an odd assortment of stuff that caught my eye, if I were bidding. It’s not cheap, but I love this little Patek carré ref. 482 with a two-tone platinum and gold case and sapphire indices set into the bezel, yet again made by Markowski. I’ve seen a few of these recently, and they’re always just so charming, and I love the bars set across the lugs. This Omega Constellation surprised me. Made in white gold with diamond indices, it features the signature of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the first president of the United Arab Emirates. 

It looks like this was picked up off the Omega Forums last year (alongside a similar North Korean one, which is wild), but so what? You didn’t buy it then. Now’s your second chance for €5,000 to €10,000.  And if you liked the idea of a Cioccolatone and couldn’t afford the Vacherons, there’s a smaller Gübelin one, in platinum with fancy lugs and diamond baguette indexes, for €8,000 to €16,000 up early in the sale.

For more on the Spring 2026 Monaco Legend Auctions sale and to register, visit their website.