Here's How Much The Rare Rolex Split-Seconds Watch Sold For At Monaco Legend Group Auction

A rare Rolex sold at a jaw-dropping price. The bid that won the Rolex Reference 4113 Split-Seconds chronograph wound up at $3.5 million, according to Monaco Legend Group’s auction house. The watch (which is around eight decades old) is considered very rare as Rolex made a "highly limited edition of only 12 examples"  for Reference 4113, Monaco Legend Group said. While 12 of these watches are known to be made, this watch is one of the nine watches that are known to exist today.

As per Monaco Legend Group, these watches were initially made for World War II pilots and were later given in the Giro di Sicilia racing event in 1942. It is also one of the only split-second chronographs, which can have two separate time intervals made by the company. The watch is one of the largest made by the brand, measuring 44 millimeters or 1.73 inches. The biggest Rolex is the Deepsea Challenger which is around 50 millimeters. The watch also features a caliver 55 VBR chronograph movement with a split-second complication that can measure different time intervals. It also has a telemeter scale to approximate the distance between the watch and something that can be heard or seen. The watch is also the only split-second chronograph or rattrapante ever released by the Swiss watchmaker. The watch falls flat on the wrist with a slightly domed back and thin shape. It also has manual lugs with a thin structure at the edge, that gives the watch support. All the Rolex split-seconds fall in the serial number range of 051313 to 051324.

These watches were first auctioned back in 1988 and started to pick up steam back in 1991. This watch was originally part of Auro Montanari's watch collection, who was an expert in the field of watches and has also written several books under the pen name John Goldberger. Montanari had been collectively watched for more than 40 years and some of his books about watches include "100 Superlative Rolex Watches," "Longines: Legendary Watches," and "A Journey Into The Deep."

The watch was the fifth most expensive Rolex ever sold at auction. The buyer also got the cheese knife that Montanari used to open the watch case to show the workings of the timepiece.  The auction brought in a total of $24,123,249, which included other Rolex watches as well as timepieces from Cartier, Patel Philippe, and Omega. 

Rolex, the brand that was founded by Hans Wilsdorf, has been producing watches since 1905. Wilsdorf had a dream of a watch worn on the wrist. The man foresaw how wristwatches could not only be a statement of style but could also be extremely reliable. The company changed the history of the watch by creating the first-ever watch to receive the Swiss Certificate of Chronometric Precision. Today, the brand is the biggest player in the luxury watch industry worldwide. Earlier this month, the brand officially introduced six new variations of its watch models that it created for 2024.