Sotheby’s is auctioning Mercedes Gleitze’s Channel-crossing Rolex

For decades, Rolex has placed its crowned watches on the wrists of champions just as they lift a trophy, turning victory into some of the most memorable moments in popular culture. But the origin of sport-and-watch synergy didn’t begin in a boardroom in the Swiss mountains. It started with a woman, Mercedes Gleitze, who needed a practical tool to make her dream come true.

The woman was the British swimmer Mercedes Gleitze, and the practical tool was a Rolex Oyster, the very watch coming to auction at Sotheby’s on 9 November 2025 at the Mandarin Oriental in Geneva, with a guidance estimate 'in excess of CHF 1 million / $1.3 million.'

In 1927, Mercedes Gleitze swam the English Channel in what she called her 'vindication swim', after accusations of irregularities clouded earlier attempts. To prove her feat, she strapped on a new kind of wristwatch, the Rolex Oyster, the first truly practical waterproof wristwatch. She emerged victorious, the watch emerged ticking, and so did the new, powerful idea of athlete endorsements.

'Gleitze’s Channel crossing, nearly a century ago, laid the foundation for what would become a legacy of tool watches built for real-world performance. The Oyster was instrumental in the transition from pocket to wristwatches, and the Mercedes Gleitze watch played an important role in this transition, rendering it one of the most significant wristwatches still in private hands,' says Sam Hines, Sotheby’s Global Chairman of Watches.

This Sotheby’s sale is being closely watched by brands that hope women can help bolster sales, which are currently mired in general luxury fatigue. Women’s watches, particularly versatile models that can be taken from the gym to the boardroom to cocktail receptions, just like the one worn by Gleitze on her heroic swim, are proving a bright spot, and the Sotheby's sale can help keep the momentum.

Think of Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak Offshore with a shimmering, textured rubber strap that echoes the Tapisserie motif of the dial, encased in rose gold – light and comfortable for weightlifting, yet with enough glamour to transition to a business meeting.

'The most elegant sea watch,' is how Breitling CEO Georges Kern defines his company’s latest Superocean Heritage, which comes with a sleek rubber mesh strap that looks every bit as refined as its steel counterpart – proof of how much brands have invested in research and development to deliver comfort without sacrificing elegance.

And some steel watches, like Tiffany & Co’s latest Atlas model with a comfortable 29mm case, or Chopard Happy Sport (the name says it all), are so light you forget you’re wearing them and never want to take them off, just as Gleitze refused to wear any watch other than the Rolex Oyster.

And how could Gleitze abandon her faithful watch? After the swim, she declared, 'You will like to hear that the Rolex Oyster watch I carried on my Channel swim proved itself a reliable and accurate timekeeping companion even though it was subjected to complete immersion for ten hours and 24 minutes in seawater at a temperature not more than 14 degrees Celsius and often as low as ten degrees Celsius. This is to say nothing about the sustained buffeting it must have received. Not even the quick change to the high temperature of the boat cabin when I was lifted from the water seemed to affect the even tenor of its movement. The newspaper man was astonished, and I, of course, am delighted with it.'

For auction details, see sothebys.com