Collecting Daily April 29

** Good day collectors. It’s Wednesday, April 29, 2026. We have a record-breaking watch that looks broken, a Michael Jackson glove, and – possibly – the first letter sent via Penny Black. Sign up for free here.

Breaking News

** The record-breaking 1987 Cartier Crash, a model designed in London, possibly inspired by a watch damaged in a car crash. Top image courtesy of Sotheby’s.

Cartier Crash watch smashes brand sales record

Sotheby’s says its Hong Kong watch sale on Friday was the most valuable watch auction ever held in Asia. The sale also broke Sotheby’s own watch-sale record, and a Cartier London Crash sold for $2 million to set an auction record for that maker.

The Crash was sold from an 82-lot collection of the jeweller’s watches that made seven-times its presale estimate at $13.8 million. The whole sale achieved $53 million.

Sotheby’s are pleased, of course. By breaking a company watch sale record set only in 2025 (in New York) the result is “a powerful signal for the market.”

Certainly, if Geneva’s May sales achieve similarly strong results, we’ll have a clear indication of an upward trajectory in high-end watch prices. There, Phillips have two watches with $5 million-plus top estimates, and Sotheby’s will sell an A. Lange & Söhne pocket watch with a high estimate of $1.5 million.
Publicity, reputation balance in Michael Jackson sale

A French auction of Michael Jackson memorabilia on June 3 is tipped to make $1 million.

Publicity this week has focused on the concurrent release of Michael, a new biopic of the star who died in 2009 aged 50.

Selling around a biopic is a no brainer, with fervour in the star renewed.

Ahead of the June 3 sale, one of Jackson’s legendary white gloves is listed with a $176,000 top estimate. Another example has previously sold for $420,000.

**In the Know

Selling This Week

Punk disc: A copy of God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols on A & M records is listed at Bonhams’ 50 Years of Punk sale ending from Thursday. It has a £10,000 to £15,000 estimate.

Super rare stamp: A corner Penny Black from plate 2 with margins showing the plate number and part of the sheet inscription is already at £24,000 ahead of a sale at Stanley Gibbon’s Baldwin’s on Thursday.

Sold Last Week

Luxury cars sell: A number of eye-catching sales at Monaco auctions at the weekend included a former green 2014 Ferrari LaFerrari formerly owned by singer Jamiroquai that made $5.9 million, and a 1961 Ferrari California Spyder that realised $19.6 million.

Pro bikes also excel: Bonhams sold a 1965 MV Agusta 500cc grand prix bike for £967,000 (including premium) on Saturday. The race-used machine had a £220,000 top estimate.
Events & Exhibitions

Football on show: Budds are showing items from their World Cup football sale at Amber Galleries in Henley on Thames and Stratford on Avon in May. You must book in advance to see lots like Pele’s 1958 winner’s medal.

Fame photographed: Face Value, a celebration of press pictures of Hollywood’s finest, is at MoMA in New York until June 21. The show takes a look at pre-digital image manipulation in the Star System.

A-Z

Art: Christie’s have some exquisite pieces in their Asian art week sales in Hong Kong. A Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) narrative jar with a dramatic scene from Jinxiang Ting is an estimate-on-request star in Thursday’s sale of the Ai Lian Ting collection.

Film memorabilia: A Millennium Falcon model leads Heritage Auctions’ Star Wars Day sale. The five-foot miniature is a replica of one used in filming and is currently under offer for $125,000.

Film memorabilia: PropStore open two sales on May 4, with a 1977 British quad poster for Star Wars: A New Hope one of the best lots in their poster auction closing on May 22.

Music memorabilia: A major collection of Phil Collins documents, including hand-written original lyrics from Genesis songs, will be sold by Julien’s in London in November. The sale will benefit the King’s Trust.

Numismatics: The blockade of Cuba is causing inflation that has sparked the issue of new high-denomination bank notes in the country. Previous such emergency issues were relatively quickly withdrawn to create collecting rarities. The notes are also novel designs for the island.

Numismatics: Stack’s Bowers reports over $30 million in realisations from its April sales in Hong Kong. The most valuable item reported was a Kwangtung Pattern Dollar that achieved $585,600. Go East coin sellers?

Pokémon: The Pokémon Go festival will take place on July 11 – 12 this year (and it’s free). The digital/real-world cross-over game also sees the launch of at least one new evolved pocket monster and there’s bound to be collectible merch to snag at official in-person events.

Sport memorabilia: A pair of 2010 Nike Hyperdunk PE sneakers game-worn and signed by NBA star Steph Curry in 2025 has sold for $121,600 at Sotheby’s, slam dunking on a $50,000 top estimate.

Stamps: A 5 cent stamp sits between two 2 cent issues in a strip of three for sale at Daniel F Kelleher from May 19. The 1917 5c carmine error is a collector’s favourite with a $20,000 top estimate and $7,500 currently bid.

Video games: UK collector Amy Dyson has been awarded a world record for her Tomb Raider collection of 291 games. Amy is still adding to her collection and is not selling any time soon.

On sale in London next month, this 1977 Star Wars poster is likely to attract buyers who have lots of Star Wars options this month. Image courtesy of Propstore Auctions.

The Long Read

They’re still with us, and they’re still worth asking for an autograph.

The seven most valuable signatures of living celebrities.

Whatnots

Time to sell?

The secondary watch market changes fast. Here are the top 10 movers on the 1-month price change scale from Watch Markets GB:

Tudor 79360N Black Bay up 36.3% to £3,897
Breitling A13356 Chronomat up 11.5% to £2,018
Breitling AB2020 Superocean Heritage up 10.2% to £2,427
Patek Philippe 5968R Aquanaut up 10.1% to £103,654
Breitling RB0136 Chronomat up 8.7% to £14,719
Rolex Ghost 116519 Daytona up 8.3% to £29,178
Tudor 79830RB Black Bay up 8.1% to £2,338
Rolex 116508 Daytona up 8.1% to £45,326
Breitling UB2010 Superocean Heritage up 7.6% to £3,065
Breitling AB0110 Chronomat up 7% to £2,421

Quirky: We don’t like forgeries or fakes, except those few examples that become collectibles in their own right. These include the Henning Nickels made by Francis Leroy Henning, a New Jersey-born forger. Henning wasn’t a very successful crook (he was jailed twice for counterfeiting), but his coins have a needle-in-a-haystack attraction to collectors who will pay over $100 for his 1944-dated nickels that neglected to include large wartime mint marks.

Anniversary this week: On May 1, 1840 Andrew Smith wrote to tell his wife he was delayed. A new 1d black stamp went on the letter and was cancelled with a hand stamp along its way. Penny Blacks went on sale on May 1, 1840, for use from May 6, but a few items slipped into the changing postal system early. Extensive forensic and philatelic examination has probed the claim of the Smith letter to be the first Penny Black use. Mr and Mrs Smith certainly lost out as Andrew affixed his not-yet-valid stamp and his wife paid 2d on delivery in the old style. A terrible start!

“This is true of all collecting. It extinguishes the moral instinct. The object finally possesses the possessor.”

John Fowles

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