Timeless Bites: Visa Goes Tokenisation, Moon Rolex Up For Auction & Art Market Shows Resilience Amidst Change

09.10.2024

In This Issue

💳 Visa Goes Tokenisation

⌚ Moon Rolex Up For Auction

🎨 Art Market Shows Resilience Amidst Change

🎸 Holy Grail Beatles Relic Goes Under The Hammer

Weekly Rewind

Visa Goes Tokenisation: Visa has launched the Visa Tokenized Asset Platform (VTAP), designed to support digital asset management through tokenisation. Currently in testing with banks like BBVA, VTAP aims to streamline and secure digital transactions.

Tokenisation transforms real-world assets – like property and equities – into digital tokens, boosting accessibility and liquidity. At Timeless, we apply this to collectibles, enabling broader access to valuable assets. A McKinsey & Company report estimates that tokenised assets could reach a value of nearly $2 trillion by 2030. Visa’s platform also aims to support interoperability, allowing banks to connect seamlessly across blockchain networks via a single API.

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Moon Rolex Up For Auction: The Rolex GMT-Master ref. 1675 worn by astronaut Edgar Mitchell on the Moon during Apollo 14 is up for auction. This ‘Pepsi’ GMT, featuring the iconic red-and-blue bezel and personal inscription to Mitchell’s daughter, was the first Rolex and first automatic watch on the lunar surface.

While no images show the watch on the Moon itself, photographs confirm it on Mitchell’s wrist before and after the mission. This Rolex has seen rare Moon dust and joins only one other Rolex with verified NASA lunar use, expected to exceed its estimated $400,000 at auction. Bidding currently sits at $22,000 on RR Auctions.

Holy Grail Beatles Relic Goes Under The Hammer: George Harrison’s first guitar, a Futurama used in over 300 of the Beatles’ early live shows, will be auctioned this month by Julien’s Auctions, with an estimated price of $600,000–$800,000. Bought in 1958 from Liverpool’s Hessy’s Music Centre, the Czech-made guitar was Harrison’s essential instrument during the band’s first Cavern Club gigs, Polydor recordings, and Hamburg tours.

This ‘holy grail’ Beatles relic, bearing chips and a well-worn fretboard, marks the early days of Harrison’s career. Although difficult to play, the Futurama shaped Harrison’s playing, later paving the way for his iconic Stratocasters.

What’s Up (and Down)

👍 Art Market Shows Resilience Amidst Change: This October, the Grand Palais will host the inaugural Art Basel Paris, featuring the €9 million contemporary art collection of Danuté and Alain Mallart. Despite a slight 4% dip in sales, the art market seems to remain robust at $65 billion in 2023, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. This resilience highlights the enduring passion of collectors, the arrival of new buyers, and the rise of online purchasing platforms.

While the landscape is shifting – evidenced by gallery closures in New York due to rising rents – the emergence of private secret auctions by galleries like Lévy Gorvy Dayan signals an exciting transformation since investing in art through private transactions allows buyers to engage directly with sellers.

Further Reading

Gallerist Micki Meng on Short-Sighted Auction Houses, Art-Fair Overdevelopment and More