Watch fans often pay attention to preservation and appreciation of luxury or top watches. Rolex Rattrapante Chronograph watch was sold for CHF 2,400,000 at 2016 Phillips auction, and the news stunned the watchmaking industry. When watch fans or experts talk about a rattrapante chronogrph watch, Rolex reference 4113 is mentioned a lot. It has been one of the most popular and the most expensive Rolex watches so far. As the only rattrapante chronograph watch in Rolex family, it’s equipped with Valjoux 55 VBR, the most advanced one of Valjoux 55 family.
Born in 1942, Rolex Rattrapante Chronograph watch Ref. 4113 is limited to 12 pieces with series numbers from 051313 to 0501324. To people’s surprise, the model never was seen in any of Rolex advertisements and published to sell. Who did Rolex produced the 12 pieces for? You may get something useful from the following information on auction sale.
In 1988, Of 12 pieces, a Rolex Rattrapante chronograph watch was auctioned at Antiquorum Auctioneers, and it was assessed at CHF 40,000 to 50,000 then, and the hammer price is CHF 53,000. The family of Stefano La Motta, a racing driver trusted Christie’s auction house with its sale. Rolex Rattrapante chronograph watch numbered with 051313 was sold for 82,500 in Geneva on May of 1991. It’s the family of Stefano La Motta, a racing driver that trusted Christie’s auction house with its sale. On October of the same year, the model numbered with 051318 was sold for 27,500 at London auction of Christie’s. The model belonged to a widow whose husband worked for a racing team. Hence, many guess that Rolex watch reference 4113 was designed for racing drivers. Rolex Rattrapante chronograph watch was sold for CHF 738,000, breaking the former record on may of 2006. The watch won the new record at CHF 1,035,000 at Christie’s auction onMay of 2011. Its bid price is rising up every year because of rattrapante chronograph and rareness.
What’s a rattrapante chronograph? Rattrapante function is invented by Adolphe Nicole in the 19th century. Simply speaking, a rattrapante chronograph watch is a watch with two chronograph hands. Under a normal timing condition, two chronograph hands stop together and display chronograph time. If you need to keep two records, one hand will stop and the other will keep working when you push the button first. The other second hand will stop when you push the button again. Next, the second hand that stops first will run after the other chronograph hand, and it will stop when it overlap with the other hand together. Finally, the two chronograph hands will come back to the 12-O’clock position after you press the “Reset” button. Rattrapante function is used to figure out two different arrivals when two chronograph hands start at the same time.
Made of stainless steel, Reference 4113 is set with two rectangle timing buttons and another button using the same axial with the crown. The button at 2 O’clock activate double rattrapante,and the button at 4 O’clock resets them. Dial bears a 60-second counter and a 30-minute sub-dial. The outer ring of the dial features tachymeter scales. Rolex Rattrapante chronograph watch Ref. 4113 has extra functions thinner watch case by comparing with models equipped with Valjoux 55 VBR.
