A Glimpse Into Andy Warhol’s Undiscovered Timepieces

Best known for his exceptional contribution to the world of art, Andy Warhol nudged watches into the larger pop-cultural scene in the 1980s, making them all the more desirable and glamorous in a poetic way. Here is a peek into his eclectic collection

Much of the discussion on Andy Warhol’s passion for timepieces is centered around the Cartier Tank. However, the iconic artist’s love for watches spanned far beyond this wristwatch he has been so synonymous with. His myriad collection included shaped time-only Audemars Piguets, complications and even small purse watches. 

For every photo of Warhol and his Cartier, one can find five others where he is seen sporting a Rolex Datejust on his wrist. The art giant and avant-garde filmmaker owned a range of timepieces from ‘the crown’, including a variety of Oyster Dates, Precisions and a GMT-Master. He had a proclivity towards precious metals, so the likes of 'Bubblebacks' (Rolex's iconic watch that gets its name from the protruding rounded caseback designed to accommodate their patented self-winding movement and rotor), Day-Dates and Oyster models from the 1920s and 30s were a key part of his vast assemblage. Among the complicated models were a 'Antimagnetique' reference 3525 (Rolex's very first chronograph wristwatch to be encased in an Oyster case - equipped with a water resistant screw-down caseback and a screw-down crown), and a reference 8171 “Padellone” in yellow gold.

The Man And His Movados

Warhol’s attraction to Movado is most evident in his collection of Ermeto travel watches. A variety of his  “purse watches' ' found their way into Sotheby’s auctions in 1988. The late horological author Fritz von Osterhausen highlighted an assortment of seven examples within his 1996 publication ‘The Movado History’. Besides the Ermetos, he also owned a Movado pocket watch, as well as a reference 44776 featuring luminous-Arabic numerals. 

Warhol was certainly a discerning collector, as he appreciated even subdued timepieces like the 18K gold Movado coin watch, seen at Sotheby’s sale in New York on December 4, 1998. Another Warhol gem that made an appearance at this auction was a Tiffany signed Patek Philippe reference 600.

Intriguing Designs

Talking of unique dials, while Warhol owned a bespoke Patek Philippe adorned with the portrait of King Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, a more Western timepiece in his collection was a vintage wristwatch depicting the country music pioneer Gene Autry. Warhol wasn’t a brand snob at all. In fact, his collection of 300 plus watches included dozens of affordable timepieces – right from wristwatches made by American manufacturers such as Hamilton, Gruen and Waltham to fun timepieces like a plastic quartz watch depicting Fred Flintstone with his pet “Dino'' and quirky LED watches with cartoon characters like Judy Jetson and Gumby. He bought a bunch of these bright colored cartoon watches from Bloomingdale’s in the mid 1980s and some of them were later found within their original boxes with price tags intact!

The Boucheron Reflet is one of the lesser known models to have been in the Warhol Collection. The vintage timepiece is powered by an Omega calibre 302, and incorporates a brilliant sliding end-link which was patented by the prestigious retailer in 1946. Then there is the more traditional Calatrava, which he was obviously very fond of, considering he wore a reference 570 retailed by Haussman, the reference 2526 with applied Breguet numerals and another one with painted numerals. 

A more flamboyant example, however, is Warhol's Patek Philippe reference 2503. The highly elaborate shaped watch is one of the most beloved references manufactured by the casemaker Markowski. The watch was one of the two cover lots at the Sotheby’s sale in April 1988. Warhol’s unapologetic adoration for design encouraged him to gravitate towards ladies’ timepieces. Be it the daring bracelet watches from Rolex or the petite Patek Philippe reference 572, gender norms or watch dimensions never bothered Warhol.  
 

While Warhol owned a number of Cartiers like the various Tanks, a Bagnoire and an elongated model powered by a Universal Geneve calibre, one particular Cartier is often misrepresented online as Warhol’s watch. Illustrated within Matthew Hranek’s’ A Man & His Watch ', this watch is actually designer Ralph Lauren’s Cartier Cintrée. Despite a clarification from Lauren where he described the provenance of the gold cuff from his acquisition of an ambiguous watch at Sotheby’s 1988 auction, many platforms have mistakenly cited the Cintrée to be Warhol’s. “I was at an auction of Andy Warhol's watches and I saw this great gold cuff on one of his watches. The watch itself was junk – I don't even know what I did with it – but this cuff was amazing. So I took it to Cartier and had it sized to my wrist, and put it on this Cintrée. I love the way it looks, and this is a watch you see me wearing a lot,” said Lauren in an interview with Hodinkee. This famed gold cuff now seen on Lauren’s Cartier Cintrée was actually a part of Warhol’s gold Tavannes.

Unique Audemars Piguets

Though Warhol was obsessed with the Cartier Tank, he also had an affinity for Audemars Piguet’s simple, time-only watches like an ultra thin model in 18kt yellow gold retailed by Cartier. While the exact details of this watch are not clear, most likely it featured calibre 2003 and was produced circa 1960. 

Among the complicated watches, his most interesting Audemars Piguet is perhaps the Model 5504. Originally sold to Gübelin in 1951, this watch was eventually bought by Warhol. A fascinating timepiece, it features the calibre 9/10RSQ, which is cited to have been produced within only 68 of the manufacturer's base calibres to incorporate the calendar.

The movement blanks were produced by the historically significant complication specialist Louis-Elysee Piguet. There are around 20 documented examples of Model 5504, the majority of which were made in 1948. This timepiece is now displayed at the recently established Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet along with the 299 other timepieces from the historic Vallée de Joux manufacturer.

While Andy Warhol is best known for his contribution to art, he nudged watches into the larger pop-cultural scene, making them all the more desirable and glamorous in a poetic way.