Watch Icons explores documented links between notable people and the watches they wore. The illustration accompanying this article is AI-generated.
Albert Einstein and a Longines wristwatch
In Los Angeles on 16 February 1931, Albert Einstein was presented with a tonneau-shaped 14-karat yellow-gold Longines wristwatch. Antiquorum later catalogued the watch as Longines No. 4,876,616, case No. 66,968, and recorded that it was accompanied by photographs of Einstein wearing it.
The watch returned to public view at Antiquorum in New York on 17 October 2008, where it sold for USD 596,000 against an estimate of USD 25,000–35,000. Christie’s has independently noted the same Longines wristwatch, its 1931 presentation to Einstein and the 2008 auction result.
The attraction is not technical excess. It is the collision of a modest, elegant object with one of the twentieth century’s most recognizable minds—a personal gift that became a piece of cultural history.
Sources
- Antiquorum, lot 286: Albert Einstein’s Longines wristwatch
- Christie’s, Albert Einstein timepiece provenance note
Disclosure: The lead image is an AI-generated editorial illustration. SEKUND.STORE is not affiliated with Albert Einstein, his estate or Longines. This article does not state or imply endorsement, and it does not indicate that SEKUND.STORE stocks the featured watch.