(Bloomberg) -- Watches and sports memorabilia owned by former NFL quarterback Tom Brady sold for a total of $9 million on Tuesday night, just clearing the auction’s presale estimate of $5.2 million to $8.9 million. Titled The GOAT Collection: Watches & Treasures from Tom Brady, the sale took place at Sotheby’s New York.
“We felt this was a fair representation of his overall collection,” says Richard Lopez, a senior watch specialist at Sotheby’s, who says that he worked with Brady to select objects for the sale. “He was willing to part with these so someone else can collect and enjoy them the way he has.”
Brady promoted the auction via social media, and came to Sotheby’s headquarters in advance of the sale to meet with a small group of potential bidders. Before the auction began, 800 clients had registered to bid on the lots, 34% of whom were first-time participants, according to the auction house. “And 40% of those registered are under the age of 40,” Lopez says, “which shouldn't be a huge surprise since millennials and Gen Z represent more than a third of the buyers in these categories.”
On the night of the auction, a cheery, informal crowd milled about at Sotheby’s headquarters. Blazers were few and far between, and men far outweighed women as canapés were passed by white-coated waiters. Once people took their seats, auctioneer Quig Bruning opened bids on the first lot—Brady’s game-worn Patriots helmet from 2019—by saying “You’ll hear this a lot— there’s a lot of interest in this this evening.” (It had a high estimate of $60,000, and ended up selling, after extensive bidding, for $102,000 after auction house fees known as the buyer’s premium were added.)
Jerseys, Gold Watches
The 41 lots had a broad range of potential appeal, from super-high end collectible watches to jerseys and sports memorabilia that would more likely draw bidding from dedicated Brady fans.
Both categories saw deep bidding. A University of Michigan jersey Brady wore during his final college game at the 2000 FedEx Orange Bowl had a high estimate of $500,000 and sold for $792,000. Similarly, a football Brady used to break the all-time passing yards record in 2021 had a high estimate of $120,000 and sold for $216,000. One man, a self-identified bar owner and sports memorabilia collector from Tulsa, Oklahoma named Logan McKnight, competed for multiple lots, and ended up winning a signed ‘official podium’ Super Bowl XLIX hat for $42,000. “I wanted it more than anything,” he said after the sale. “I came a long way—and it was worth it.”
But it was the top lots that commanded the top prices. Lopez says that presale estimates “represent what I think they're going to do in the watch collecting market,” he says. “Then we have that added value that they have the provenance from the GOAT.”
Biggest Lots
Ahead of the sale, a yellow gold Rolex Daytona carried the highest estimate of the night– $600,000 to $900,000. Made circa 1969, the watch, an extremely rare version of the already sought-after “Paul Newman” Daytona, saw concerted bidding from six people alternately (absentee, online, on the phone, and in the room) over two minutes. Its final price was $1.14 million.
The second highest-estimated lot also lived up to its promise. A custom-made Audemars Piguet Royal Oak watch that has “Tom Brady” written on its dial in diamonds carried a presale estimate of $400,000 to $800,000. Brady wore it during his famous (and controversial) Netflix roast in May; after a series of online bids, the watch sold for $720,000.
Other pieces, including a yellow gold Patek Philippe pocket watch made in 1917, sold for respectable amounts although well below their high estimates. That watch, which Lopez says was one of the most popular pieces on the sale’s pre-auction tour through various US cities, had an estimate of $200,000 to $400,000 and sold for $264,000.
After the hammer came down on the final lot—that custom Audemars Piguet watch—Bruning, the auctioneer, looked visibly ebullient. “Tom if you’re watching at home,” he said, “it’s been a pleasure to work with you.”
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