Clocks, Watches & Jewellery

Salerooms seize the chance as traditional dedicated auctions fade away in London

It is with great sadness that we break the news of the passing of Moira Cohen on September 20.

A George III gold pair cased pocket watch gave a strong start to the Golding Young & Mawer (20% buyer’s premium) November 4 sale (brought forward a day to avoid lockdown restrictions).

This 19in (48cm) high late 18th century English mahogany cased bracket clock is one of the horological entries in Fontaine’s online auction to be held in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on November 14.

The latest Clocks & Watches sale at Gardiner Houlgate (20% buyer’s premium) in Corsham, near Bath, was topped at £16,000 by this large iron two-train turret clock movement by Thomas Cooke (1807-68) of York. The estimate was £1000-2000.

Watch parts such as replacement dials, cases and hands from well-known models can add up to a lot of interest at auction, as recent results show.

The latest online sale of Clocks, Watches, & Scientific Instruments held by Skinner (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) in Marlborough, Massachusetts included two of perhaps only 50 surviving Tornek-Rayville TR-900 stainless steel dive watches.

Gold pin awarded to Second World War Polish pilot later executed after the Great Escape

The Rolex GMT-Master Ref 6542 is known to collectors as the ‘Pussy Galore’ as it was worn by Honor Blackman in Goldfinger. Made from 1954-59, it was replaced by the more commonly encountered GMT-Master Ref 1675.

This Zenith chronometer dating from c.1954 is powered by a calibre 135 movement which is widely considered to be the most elegant manual wind movement ever made.

The Skipper Carrera Ref 7753/54, nicknamed the Skiperrera, was the first of the Heuer skipper models and a trophy lot in the collecting sphere.

Dorotheum’s auction of wrist and pocket watches in Vienna on November 27 includes this Rolex Dato Compax ref 4768.

The Submariner 5508 released in 1958 was the last of the so-called ‘James Bond’ Submariners.

This Movado model 14776 triple calendar watch is best known as the Calendograf.

Not all early 18th century oak clocks were restricted to a simple style. There were provincial customers who requested more grandeur and country casemakers who could accommodate such requests.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

A watch worn many times by the king of rock and roll at the peak of his career comes for sale at Sworders this month.

This Omega Seamaster 300, c.1967, has been consigned for sale at Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury on November 17-18 by a career member of the Royal Engineers.

The French clockmaker Antide Janvier, who constructed his first mechanical globe when he was only 15, is primarily famous for his highly complex astronomical clocks and planetaria.

Formerly of McTear’s, Sarah Fergusson has become the new head of watches at Lyon & Turnbull.