It could be love at first sight for horophiles at Sotheby’s New York this winter. The auction house is offering an incredible assortment of timepieces from the golden age of watchmaking, many of which are new to the market and some of which have never been seen.

Amassed by one of America’s most discerning and meticulous watch collectors, Robert M. Olmsted, over the past 60 years, the collection spans the early 19th century to the early 20th century and thus is something of a horological time capsule. It includes more than 80 pieces of great historical and technical importance that were created by some of the biggest names in the biz, including Patek Philippe, Rolex, Audemars Piguet, A. Lange & Söhne, and Breguet, to name but a few. 

The stars of the lineup are two previously unknown and potentially unique Patek Philippe pocket watches. Each is equipped with double movements and two sets of hour and minute hands and seconds hands. One incorporates a minute repeater, while the other combines a minute repeater with a split-seconds chronograph. Before the discovery of the two Pateks, no double-movement watch of any kind was publicly known to exist, Sotheby’s says.

The first is a split-seconds minute repeater from 1924 (estimate: $500,000 to $1 million) that was originally commissioned by American entrepreneur John Motley Morehead III and later acquired by Robert Olmsted in 1965. It is equipped with a dual-function crown that winds one movement clockwise and the other counterclockwise. Once both movements are fully wound, the crown locks to stop any further rotation. Some believe the double movements serve to display dual time zones; others argue the second movement was purposefully engineered to track sidereal time (a timekeeping system used in celestial navigation). The latter is certainly plausible given Morehead’s passion for science and astronomy.

The second is an open-faced minute repeater from 1921 (estimate: $300,000 to $500,000). It was the second watch Morehead commissioned from Patek and features two movements that can be wound simultaneously by turning the crown clockwise. Each set of hands displays a different time zone, with the gold hands indicating sidereal time and the blue hands showing a standard 24-hour day.

Other standouts include a silver Patek paperweight clock from 1927 (estimate: $500,000 to $1 million) and a rare yellow-gold, open-faced keyless Patek pocket watch made for the legendary American collector Henry Graves Jr. (estimate: $150,000–250,000). Additional highlights from the collection will be unveiled in the coming weeks, according to Sotheby’s.

“This collection is a true tour de force of horological ingenuity and rarity, and working on it has been a deeply rewarding journey filled with discoveries and wonder,” Daryn Schnipper, Sotheby’s chairman emeritus, international watch division, said in a statement. 

Exceptional Discoveries: The Olmsted Complications Collection is expected to achieve in excess of $4 million across two Sotheby’s auctions (Important Watches on December 8 and Fine Watches from November 26 to December 10). The sales will take place at the auction house’s new home in the iconic Breuer Building. Before going under the hammer, the collection will be exhibited globally with stops in Hong Kong, London, and Geneva, before it is displayed in New York (December 5 to 7).