Inside the $49.5 Million Auction of 4 Unique, Wild Rolexes

Monday night in central London was one for the horological history books. Four one-of-one, insanely bejewelled precious-metal Rolex Daytonas went under the hammer for a combined $49.4 million, with every penny split 50/50 between the Federer Foundation and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Re:wild charity.Phillips auction house facilitated the bidding for Rolex, with Testimonees Federer and DiCaprio joining a super-selective bunch of the wealthiest watch collectors, all eager to come away with one of the insane Rolex Daytonas. An event of this magnitude called for one person in particular to handle the jostling, the impassioned bids flying in from all angles and, ultimately, the hammer. His name is Aurel Bacs. Occupation: GOAT auctioneer.“It was very, very impressive. Superb auctioneer. He's so brilliant at taking bids off people. He offered tennis lessons with Roger Federer as an incentive and stuff like that, so it was quite fun,” Nick Foulkes, one of the UK’s most respected watch experts, told me in the taxi home from the auction, still buzzing from what he witnessed. Foulkes, who was taken aback by quite how passionate DiCaprio is about tackling climate change, said he spotted Mick Jagger and Jon Bon Jovi in attendance to experience this proper where-were-you-when moment.Three of the winning bidders were on the phone and one was in the room. “It was basically the world's rich list, really, but not the known rich list," says Foulkes. “I knew a couple of the collectors there, and they're all quite heavy spenders. 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." Foulkes also says that at one point, Bacs said to one of the clients: “When you wake up the next morning, you’ll actually regret not buying one.” The great thing is he knows all the buyers personally, so he's not drumming his fingers, waiting for it to come into the room."Left: 18-carat Everest gold Rolex Daytona Summer went for $13.65 million. Right: 18-carat white gold Rolex Daytona Spring went for $9.01 million. “We're entering completely uncharted territory,” Bacs told me the week leading up to this historic auction. That statement is true of the watches, too, which look unlike anything else Rolex has ever produced. There are four pieces in total: the green-and-purple, white-gold-cased Spring; the purple-and-turquoise, yellow-gold Summer; the yellow-gold, green-and-gold Autumn; and the platinum Winter with a hypnotic opal dial. Of course, each features dozens of different gems and diamonds in addition to the precious metals and exotic stone dials. On Monday night in London, the watches sold for a combined $49.4 million: Spring for $9.01 million, Summer for $13.65 million, Autumn for $13.52 million, and Winter for $13.2 million.“This is a historic moment for the world of watchmaking. We are deeply honored to have played a role in this first-ever charity auction with Rolex and to support the important work of the Federer Foundation and Re:wild," Bacs said following the event. “It was a privilege to stand on the rostrum and witness the energy and passion in the room, united by shared values of excellence, craftsmanship and, above all, a commitment to making a positive difference. The extraordinary amount raised will make a meaningful contribution to future generations and to the protection of our natural world.”Back in April, I was given a sneak preview of these Rolexes at Watches and Wonders, the watch industry’s biggest annual trade show in Geneva. I was totally floored by them, and sworn to secrecy. Which left me wondering: what would happen to them? Where would they pop up next?Left: Platinum Rolex Daytona Winter went for $13.2 million. Right: 18-carat yellow gold Rolex Daytona Autumn went for $13.52 million. “Like you, I saw them in the showcase, I couldn't touch them, did not photograph them, and swiftly moved my mind on to other things,” said Bacs from his desk in Geneva. “There's this quote in Notting Hill where Hugh Grant says to Julia Roberts, ‘It was surreal to meet you. Surreal but nice.’ It was like me seeing these watches: a one-off meet-and-greet with watches from another galaxy and then goodbye. I assumed they would be spoken for by one or two of the world's greatest friends of Rolex, collectors, ambassadors or triple VIPs.”Fast forward a couple of months and little did Bacs know he’d find himself presiding over one of the most anticipated auctions in living memory. (It’s been nine years since he sold Paul Newman’s own Rolex Daytona for $17.75 million, setting a world record for a vintage wristwatch at auction in the process.) I caught up with him to talk about his role in one of the wildest, most hotly anticipated watch auctions in history.GQ: How did you get the call up?Aurel Bacs: It all started with a text message I received. I was in my office in Geneva, read it, and obviously when you get such a message, you wonder, “What could it be?” Then during a conversation, the concept, the idea, the project, the participants, the full watches were shared with me. I think it took me a split second to make one plus one and say, “Wow.”How does celebrity culture impact this moment?I've had the pleasure of bringing Paul Newman's Daytona to the market, selling for 150 times the value of a regular Paul Newman. We've brought Marlon Brando's Rolex GMT to the market, selling for maybe 200 times its value, so we cannot deny that humans pay attention when iconic historic personalities are attached to an event, an object, a cause.But what really matters here is that Rolex could have sold those four watches at their sticker price to one of their most faithful collectors, taken the funds, and divided them 50/50 between the two charities. Instead, this initiative raises a whole new degree of awareness for what these two fine gentlemen are doing besides being one of history's most skilled tennis players and one of Hollywood's most skilled actors.Give us a sense of how excited you are about this auction.I definitely embrace and salute this fantastic initiative, for humanity first and foremost. Globally, Rolex is amongst the largest donors for good causes. It can be the arts, sport, all kinds of projects. We all should realize what a brilliant and game-changing initiative this is.How does this almost perfect Venn diagram—great cause, unbelievable one-off pieces, the limelight—potentially increase the amount they might sell for?One of the questions I've been asked the most in recent weeks since this project was announced is how much are they going to sell, or how much do I need to bring to the table to stand a fair chance? People say, "You're a watch specialist, you should know." Truth is, I have no idea. And I dare correct anyone if they say, "Well, I know exactly." When connected to a cause, things become priceless because how much do you put a price on the feeling, the emotion, the motivation that many more lions and elephants will live, or kids can go to school? It's no longer a watch you buy, it is a project connected to humanity.Of the four, do you have a favorite watch?50% of the conversations I have with collectors about these watches is: Which one is his or her or my favorite, and why? What's quite amazing is how everyone has a different approach. In terms of prestige, platinum always ranks above gold. But what I've seen even more so is how much people choose their favorite, not on intellectual assessments but on the looks and the colours. I had someone say, "Oh, the one in white gold with the purple and green is very Wimbledon. That would be Roger Federer's favourite, so I'd like to have that one." Somebody else says, "Opal is the most fascinating with its different red, blue, purplish sparkle." Some people said, "Yellow green, Brazilian flag. My mom is from Brazil. That's the one I need to have." Some people have come more intellectually and said, "This stone is rarer than that one. This one is harder to work on. This one is more brittle. They must have had 10 attempts to make a dial out of this heart stone that broke before they could actually use a dial." 10 collectors will give you 11 answers why this piece or that piece is their favorite.Which watch did you wear to the auction yourself?A vintage Daytona with an inscription that marked a very key moment in my life. It’s from my wife so I wear it as a charm.We've touched on the whole “man who sold the most expensive wristwatch ever." Is that on your mind?Not at all. As the world's leading auctioneers, people expect us to achieve the best possible result, but I've never gone into an auction saying, "Today we need to break a world record." And in all my conversations with the Rolex management [for this auction], I can confirm no one has ever brought up that notion of, "Aurel, we count on you. We need to beat the world record." I would actually find it rather uncomfortable if somebody during a meeting brought up this, "Help me count on you. You make it happen." 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.Do you get nervous with these things?Yes, of course I absolutely get nervous. Being nervous is a sign that it matters to you, that you are aware of what's at stake, that you are humble enough to understand that victory isn't granted. I didn't sleep at all a couple of nights prior to the event; it's like a horological moon landing.