Record-Breaking Aeronaut Julian Nott's Adventure-Tested Rolex Collection Is Up for Sale

Julian Nott's name might not ring any bells, but the British explorer and scientist was the preeminent adventurer in his field-ballooning Or consider that Nott was the main consultant on Alan Eustace's free fall from 135,890 feet in the stratosphere, in 2014, breaking Felix Baumgartner's 2012 record 16760 "Fat Lady," both of which accompanied Nott on two successful world-record attempts, as well as a Datejust presented to Nott at the Rolex Awards for Enterprise in 1984-will be available for final bidding on December 10 in New York City.

Some of the standout documentation includes Nott's firsthand account of his record-breaking 1974 ascent of 45,836 feet in a hot-air balloon over Bhopal, India, which accompanies the Explorer II; Nott's personal notebook planning his expeditions-such as sponsorship targets that included Seagram's, Triumph and Zales-with the GMT-Master II; and original ads promoting Nott and the watches While an everyday, two-tone '80s Datejust is unlikely to be on any serious collector's wish list, Nott's comes with his name signed on the caseback and planning documents for his 1984 attempt for the first nonstop, around-the-world balloon flight-a feat so difficult it wouldn't be achieved until 15 years later by Brian Jones and Bertrand Piccard aboard the Breitling Orbiter 3 The Datejust also comes with a 1982 letter from Nott asking Rolex to make an Explorer watch in titanium, to reduce weight for that 1984 voyage; to date, despite the popularity of the material, Rolex still does not make a titanium-cased watch.

Sadly, Nott's watches are coming to auction after he passed away on March 26, 2019, due to a ground-based ballooning accident in Warner Springs, Calif., where he was testing high-altitude technology. . Source