You may think you know diamonds. Perhaps you’ve tried on your great-grandmother’s engagement ring or perused the counters at Cartier or Tiffany. But nothing can prepare you for the experience of slipping on a rectangular-cut, 24.13-carat yellow diamond, flanked (naturally) on either side by a shield-shaped diamond and set in 18k gold and platinum. Rings like this are the stuff of legend. Surely Princess Grace or Princess Di or Princess Mia of Genovia wore such a ring? You stare at the enormous stones and the facets seem limitless; the refracted light, dazzling.

Recently Christie's has made a number of moves to connect more people with great watches, include Private Sales in New York City and last week's inaugural Shanghai auction. Today Christie's launches its first online-only watch auction, running October 1 through October 8. Called 'The Essential Watch Collection,' this sale offers up popular and accessible references from brands including Rolex, Omega, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Patek Philippe, and more.  And you can bid on them from your home or office, and pay with a credit card.

The fall auction season is heating up, and Christie’s has announced that its Magnificent Jewels sale in New York will feature three exceptional colored diamonds: a rectangular-cut 8.77-carat intense-pink diamond, a cushion-cut 3.81-carat vivid-blue diamond, and a square-cut 5.13-carat vivid-yellow diamond. Additionally, the sale—on October 15th—will offer three top-quality D-color diamonds, weighing 25.30 carats, 18.28 carats, and 9.52 carats. These six notable stones are estimated to fetch between $850,000 and $3 million each.

A few months ago, at the Christie’s Important Watches auction in Midtown, a fine 18k pink gold Patek Philippe pocket watch manufactured in 1898 sold for just over $2.25 million. While this was no ordinary pocket watch—it offered a minute repeater, perpetual calendar, split-second chronograph, grande and petite sonneries, and a moon phase indicator—the high sales figure also reflected the new interest collectors and watch aficionados have for vintage and newly released pocket watches.

Several weeks ago, L'Argus des Montres introduced the new Christie's private sales department. Now the auction house is moving into online auctions, offering aficionados of vintage watches some highly solicited models in excellent condition. Reginald Brack, Director of Private Sales - Watches and specialist in Patek Philippe and Rolex, assumed the task of assembling the items for this 100% online sale. So it will be possible to monitor the auctions and acquire items from 1 - 8 October through the following link: www.christies.com/essentialwatches.

From October 1st through October 8th, Christie’s will unveil The Essential Watch Collection, the auction house’s first ever online-only sale of a selection of iconic watches from some of the most coveted brands like Patek Philippe, Rolex, Breitling and more. Here, Reginald Brack, Director of Private Sales, Watches discusses the weeklong sale and the benefits of launching a new e-commerce selling platform exclusively to Life+Times.

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Reginald Brack, Director of Christie's Private Sales Watches, has one of the most exciting jobs in the horology business. He shares with us his knowledge and passion for the finest timepieces.