Double-signed watches: a collector’s guide

Among all the tiny details that make a watch appealing, the double-signed, or co-signed dial is one of the most intriguing. So exactly what is it, and why can it make a watch worth much more than its non-double-signed counterpart?

Put simply, a double-signed dial will be found on a watch that was manufactured by one firm and retailed by another, and therefore features the signatures of both.

This phenomenon began in the first half of the 20th century, before European watch businesses had their own boutiques dotted around the world. Instead, they relied on a network of trusted retailers to represent them in what were then nascent markets, whether in South America, the United States, Africa or the Middle East. Sometimes, to help increase the watches’ appeal to local collectors, those retailers were permitted to add their own stamp to the dial, usually at six or 12 o’clock.

‘Double-signed dials had almost entirely disappeared by the 1990s, as watch manufacturers began overseeing their own retail outlets,’ says Geneva-based Watches specialist Alexandre Gouverneyre. ‘However, it wasn’t long before the appetite for luxury goods collaborations started to take off again.’

Today, the mark of a storied retailer may significantly increase the value of a watch, adding desirable layers of recognition, provenance and rarity.

‘Vintage examples still conjure up images of South American oil barons and North American tycoons,’ says Gouverneyre, ‘while newer collaborations offer a chance to acquire a watch that is a little bit different from others in the same reference. As a result, the demand for double-signed dials continues to climb.’

Here are some of the most in-demand double-signed dials.

Cartier

Known as ‘the jeweller of kings, and the king of jewellers’, Cartier was founded by Louis-François Cartier in Paris in 1847.

Between the 1930s and the 1950s, Cartier struck up a unique relationship with the Henri Stern Agency (aka Patek Philippe USA), which channelled the Swiss-made watches to American tycoons through the French jeweller’s iconic Fifth Avenue boutique.

A brilliant example of this collaboration is the Patek Philippe ref. 130 from 1930, above left, which was custom-made for the American entrepreneur and aviation pioneer William E. Boeing. It’s one of just 10 examples of this early split-second chronograph model in existence, of which only two were double-signed by Cartier. It sold for CHF485,000 (US$520,000) at Christie’s Geneva in 2014.

Similarly, the unique Patek Philippe ref. 1518 from 1945, above right, is the only known example of this model ever to be double-signed by Cartier. It sold for CHF2,214,000 (US$2,235,000) in 2022.

In the United States, Cartier continued to sell watches made by its competitors in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. This was due to the fact that the American store was an entirely separate business from Cartier’s European offices, which had fractured in the aftermath of the Second World War. Therefore, its owner Robert Kenmore could stock — and double-sign — watches by the likes of Patek Philippe, Rolex and Audemars Piguet, before Cartier was globally reconciled in the late 1970s.

Since the foundation of Rolex in 1905, its watches have been sold by retailers including Tiffany & Co., Serpico y Laino and Joyería Riviera. However, those retailed by Cartier are the most desirable and among the rarest.

Tiffany & Co.

In 1851, following a handshake agreement between Charles Lewis Tiffany and Antoine Norbert de Patek, Tiffany & Co. began selling Patek Philippe watches in America. Bringing together two of the most revered brands in their respective fields, these rare, vintage double-signed dials are now particularly coveted.

Patek Philippe’s historic relationship with Tiffany & Co. is the most famous example of a double-signed-dial deal that still exists today: the jeweller is the only retailer now permitted to add its signature to the face of a Patek Philippe watch — although it rarely does so.

In 2021, the double-signed Nautilus 5711/1A-018 was released to celebrate 170 years of this partnership. Only 170 pieces were made, each fitted with an unmistakable Tiffany-blue dial and offered exclusively to VIP clients. The official retail price was US$52,635. The following year, Christie’s sold the example above for CHF3,174,000 (US$3,204,000).

By contrast, the relationship between Rolex and Tiffany & Co. was relatively short-lived, lasting only from the mid-1950s to the early 1990s.

Only a fraction of Rolex’s output was signed and sold by Tiffany & Co. during these years — the gold Rolex GMT above, with a brown double-signed dial, is one of fewer than five known.

Serpico y Laino

Serpico y Laino was founded in Venezuela in the late 1920s by two Italian immigrants, Vicente Laino and Leopoldo Serpico. Initially having focused on jewellery, the firm expanded into watches in the early 1930s and became the exclusive distribution agent for Rolex.

Before long, the retailer was collaborating with other brands, and was appointed the sole authorised distributor for Patek Philippe watches in Venezuela. In 1966, having thrived for 40 years, the Caracas-based business closed.

The Rolex Submariner above, from around 1959, is the only known version with a double-signed dial issued by Serpico y Laino. It sold at Christie’s in 2013 for CHF191,000 (US$175,900).

The Patek Philippe ref. 2499, above right, was bought from Serpico y Laino in 1956, and is the only version of this double-signed configuration known to exist. It was consigned to Christie’s in 2018 by the children of its original owner, a man who had migrated to Venezuela in search of a better life and bought this watch with his new-found fortune. Thanks in part to this captivating provenance, it realised CHF3,252,500 (US$3,225,800).

Gobbi

In 1842, Raimondo Gobbi opened a watch workshop in Modena in northern Italy. After a decade, he was appointed clockmaker to the grand duke’s court. Some 40 years later, in 1896, Raimondo’s youngest son Giuseppe moved the business to Milan’s elegant Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. Until its recent closure, Gobbi had been serving the same wealthy Italian families for six generations.

As one of the most important destinations for luxury watches in Italy, Gobbi’s former inventory includes some particularly desirable timepieces. Take the Patek Philippe ref. 2523 above: not only is it one of just seven ever made in pink gold — and of those seven, one of only two with a blue enamel dial — it’s also the only example double-signed by Gobbi. Accordingly, it sold in 2019 at Christie’s in Hong Kong for HK$70,175,000 (US$8,964,000), becoming the most expensive watch ever auctioned in Asia.

And the rest...

Many other leading jewellers have created their own double-signed dials across the last century, each of which can have a distinct appeal to certain collectors.

These include Beyer in Zürich, Gübelin in Lucerne, Asprey in London, Van Cleef & Arpels in Paris, Hausmann & Co. in Rome, Linz in Dallas, Gondolo & Labouriau in Rio de Janeiro, Freccero in Montevideo, Cuervo y Sobrinos in Havana, Joyería Riviera in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Dobbies in Nairobi.

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