The Rolex Daytona charity auction held Monday night in central London raised a combined $49.4 million, with four unique, gem-set Daytonas selling in aid of the Federer Foundation and Re:wild, the environmental charity associated with Leonardo DiCaprio. Every penny of the proceeds was split equally between the two organisations.
How the Rolex Daytona Charity Auction Unfolded
Phillips facilitated the bidding on behalf of Rolex, with the room packed by what watch expert Nick Foulkes described as ‘basically the world’s rich list, really, but not the known rich list.’ Three of the four winning bids came in by phone; one buyer was in the room. Roger Federer and Leonardo DiCaprio were both present as Rolex testimonees.
Foulkes, reporting from the taxi home, described an atmosphere closer to an old trading floor than a hushed auction gallery. ‘They started at £500,000, and they were shouting like on the trading floors in the old days, “One million!” “Two million!” “Three million!” “Four million!” It only really settled down around about six million. Every lot took about 15 minutes,’ he said.
Behind the rostrum was Aurel Bacs. Foulkes called him a ‘superb auctioneer’ and noted that Bacs offered tennis lessons with Federer as a bidding incentive at one point during the evening. Bacs told me before the sale that ‘we are entering completely uncharted territory’, and that assessment proved accurate on the night. He also revealed a well-worn tactic he used on wavering buyers: ‘When you wake up the next morning, you’ll actually regret not buying one.’
The four lots sold as follows: Spring (white gold, green-and-purple) for $9.01 million; Summer (yellow gold, purple-and-turquoise) for $13.65 million; Autumn (yellow gold, green-and-gold) for $13.52 million; and Winter (platinum, opal dial) for $13.2 million.
The Watches and the Cause Behind the Record Figures
Each of the four pieces is a one-of-one creation, set with dozens of gems and diamonds across cases of white gold, yellow gold, or platinum. The dials are cut from exotic stone, and according to Bacs, some of the harder, more brittle dial materials required as many as ten attempts before a usable piece could be produced. No two collectors who handled the watches agreed on a favourite, some chose by colour, others by the rarity of the stone, and at least one cited the green-and-purple Spring as ‘very Wimbledon.’
The decision to take the watches to public auction at all was itself deliberate. According to JCK, Rolex chose to sell through a public auction rather than place the pieces privately with collectors, directing all proceeds to charity. Bacs made the same point in our conversation before the sale: Rolex could have sold all four at sticker price to trusted collectors and split the money quietly. Instead, the public format raised both the sums involved and the visibility of what the two charities actually do.
The Federer Foundation, which received half of Monday’s proceeds, was founded in 2003 and focuses on early and foundational learning for children across Southern Africa and Switzerland, according to Robb Report. Re:wild, the other beneficiary, works on the protection of wild places and species, a cause Foulkes noted DiCaprio spoke about with genuine passion on the night. Mick Jagger and Jon Bon Jovi were also spotted in attendance.
For Bacs, the evening had personal weight too. He described the nights before the sale as sleepless, comparing the experience to ‘a horological moon landing.’ He wore a vintage Daytona to the rostrum, one his wife had given him, inscribed to mark a moment in his life he keeps private.
It is nine years since Bacs sold Paul Newman’s own Rolex Daytona for $17.75 million, setting a world record for a vintage wristwatch at auction. He was clear, both before and after Monday’s sale, that chasing records was never the frame for this one. ‘What Roger, Leo, Rolex and Phillips have in common is that we are totally passionate about what we do in our normal lives Monday to Friday; as long as you give your best effort, the outcome is a secondary thought,’ he said.
Following the sale, Bacs said: ‘The extraordinary amount raised will make a meaningful contribution to future generations and to the protection of our natural world.’
