Olmsted was a collector’s collector, buying pieces while he was still in college at Princeton in the 1960s. Not long after starting his collecting journey, in 1965, Olmsted acquired the “John Motley Morehead Double Movement Split Seconds Minute Repeating Watch” from 1924 (estimate: $500,000-$1 million).
Thanks to Olmsted’s records, we know legendary New York dealer Ephraim Greenberg brokered the sale, and Olmsted was the second owner of the watch. The first owner, who commissioned this piece, was John Motley Morehead III, an American industrialist, scientist, politician, and philanthropist who once served as U.S. Ambassador to Sweden.