Jacqueline Kennedy’s Cartier Watch Defies Auction Expectation
SOLD: Jacqueline Kennedy’s Cartier Tank watch fetched a high price at auction Wednesday.
The gold face classic timepiece realized $379,500, more than triple its high estimate of $120,000. A key lot in Christie’s Rare Watches and American Icons New York sale, the watch was originally appraised with a conservative estimate of $50,000. It only took three minutes to sell, according to the auction house, and received bids from more than one dozen bidders. As with most high-ticket auction lots, the watch’s purchaser wished to remain anonymous.
The timepiece was a gift to Kennedy from brother-in-law Prince Stanislaw “Stas” Radziwill. The watch’s back was engraved with: “Stas to Jackie 23 Feb. 63 2:05 am to 9:35 pm.” The engraved times reference the 50-mile-hike fad kicked off by President Kennedy in a 1963 address, and endured by a circle of his closest friends in Palm Beach that same year.
The lot also included a painting made by Kennedy, given to Radziwill in commemoration of his hike.
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