Sotheby’s, Hong Kong, 7 April 2015
Sold for HK$ 812,500
As it happens, I have always struggled to come to terms with the Millenary look, but if there is one model that I covet it is the platinum Maserati MC12 that was produced in a run of just 150 examples back in 2006.
At the time, the brand had a partnership with Maserati and was the key sponsor of the Trofeo Maserati one-make race championship for “gentleman drivers” (and, as it happened, the model Jodie Kidd who formed a team with Johnny Herbert).
The pièce de résistance of the collaboration was the Millenary MC12, which celebrated Maserati’s MC12 limited production supercar – built in 50 examples to contest the FIA GT championship. Comprising 648 parts and combining a tourbillon, chronograph and power reserve indication, the watch featured a skeletonised dial with a Maserati-blue bridge made from eloxed aluminium, an off-centre tachymetre scale and push pieces positioned at 10 o’clock and two o’clock.
I remember driving to the AP manufacture for the unveiling of the watch in a Maserati 4200 GT as part of a convoy of motoring journalists – most of whom were aghast to discover that the watch would retail for £225,000, almost four times more than the cars we had each arrived in. Looking at the price achieved by this watch, perhaps their cynicism was justified.
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