Know Before You Throw

Donna Luger and Jon Englund

Downsizing? Determined to get rid of stuff no longer needed? Cleaning out a home or an estate?  Stop! Know Before You Throw.

Hopefully the holidays were wonderful for you and yours, and everyone received a gift they dearly treasure. This month’s story is about a gift that rocked the world of collecting, and one that turned out to be a treasure beyond belief.

The gift was given in 1984 by famed film star Paul Newman. The gift was a Rolex Daytona Cosmograph wristwatch. The lucky recipient of this gift was James Cox, who had been dating Paul’s daughter, Nell, at the time, and her father thought highly of the young man. The watch originally had been a gift to Paul from his wife, Joanne Woodward, in honor of his passion for car racing. So, you might say he re-gifted it.

In 1984, he gave the watch to James, who wore the watch for some years not really having a sense of its potential worth. Sometime in the 1990s, he started to get a clue that he had a pretty iconic watch of substantial value. Then, on Oct. 26, 2017, he sold the watch at auction for nearly $18 million. This was the highest price ever for a watch sold at auction.

While most Daytona Rolex watches fetch nowhere near the price that Paul’s did, due to lack of celebrity ownership and provenance, it’s not to say they aren’t worth a substantial amount of money. Other vintage Paul Newman-style Daytonas can sell for upward of $200,000, while more current models of the watch can be had for $8,000 to $20,000, depending on condition and metal content.

So, while most of us missed out on Paul’s generosity, some of us may have a collectible watch lying around that may have been passed down through our family. Rolex certainly is one of the most sought-after brands, but there are others of which to be aware, such as Patek-Philippe, Omega and Breitling, to name just a few.

Therefore, whether it’s a vintage Paul Newman-model Rolex Daytona, or some long-forgotten jewelry squirreled away in the sock drawer, you just might be sitting on a small treasure trove and you don’t even know it. As always, give me a call and Know Before You Throw.

Jon Englund has more than 25 years of experience in appraising and liquidating personal property, jewelry, art, collectibles, antiques, furniture, printed items and more. A Midwest transplant, Jon trained at New York University in appraisal studies.

For more information, call Jon directly at (480) 699-1567, or send an email to Jon@KnowBeforeYouThrow.INFO.