The Cognac Pen and Cognac Watch are two luxury collector pieces built around a single rarity: a drop of 1762 Gautier cognac, supplied by Wealth Solutions and officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest cognac ever sold at auction. The pen was crafted by the storied Italian manufacturer Montegrappa, sealing a portion of the historic liquor into its design.
The companion Cognac Watch was created with Swiss watchmaker Armin Strom, whose chief horologist Claude Greisler built a timepiece with two "inner lives", an in-house mechanical movement and a capsule holding the same 1762 cognac. Launched in 2016 in a limited run of just 40 pieces, the collaboration sold out entirely.
The cognac itself made headlines before it ever reached a watch or pen: the 1762 Gautier bottle sold at Bonhams' New York Whisky, Cognac and Rare Spirits auction in 2014 for 60,000 dollars, nearly triple its original estimate of 20,000 to 25,000 dollars, making it one of the most expensive spirits ever traded at the time.
Armin Strom's watches were produced in stainless steel, 18-karat rose gold, and titanium cases, with droplets of the cognac sealed inside a sapphire crystal disc set at five o'clock on the dial. Prices started at around 25,000 euros for the steel version, a fitting price point for a watch built around one of the rarest liquids in the world.
