Auctions: the wonders of the Cologni collection

An extraordinary collection of watches and jewels belonging to Franco Cologni, famous writer and entrepreneur passionate about watchmaking and jewelry, and his wife Adele Tamiso Cologni will be auctioned by Sotheby's online until November 6th.

72 lots that range from the early 1900s to 2000 and will be sold to support a new project by the Milan-based Cologni Foundation, an exhibition and cultural space dedicated to the excellence of art professions, within an important Milanese museum.

The Foundation, a private non-profit institution, was born in Milan in 1995 and its initiatives are aimed above all at young people: the goal is in fact to train new generations of Masters of Art, saving craftmanship from the risk of disappearance.

The collection that will be sold consists mainly of watches, with dozens of copies signed by Cartier, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin, Piaget, Frank Muller, Jaeger-LeCoultre and signed by other prestigious brands. These are watches even in limited editions or dedicated to the collector: among them the 2012 “La Monégasque” wristwatch by Roger Dubuis in rose gold, whose value is between 17,000 and 25,000 euros.

Another limited edition stands out, and is the stainless steel one of the Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph "Rhone-Fusterie" by Audemars Piguet, dated 2008 and estimated at 8,000-12,000 euros. Finally also the "Saltarello" watch by Cartier, 1997, a limited edition in platinum, and again by Cartier the "Himalaya" in white gold and black diamonds from 2004.