Watches & Watch accessories

The May 11-12 Geneva sale conducted by Phillips in association with watch consultancy Bacs & Russo includes one of the most complicated wristwatches of the pre-war era: the Vacheron Constantin minute repeater with retrograde calendar from 1940.

Watch collectors priced out of the market for blue-chip branded sports models are finding value for money elsewhere.

The ‘Big Red’ Daytona reference 6265 is one of the most desirable Rolex chronographs from the 1980s.

Universal Genève helped change the horological landscape in 1934 with the introduction of an affordable two-button Compur chronograph – a line that continued into the 1940s.

Heuer watches, steeped in racing history, are among the ‘secondary’ or ‘niche’ Swiss brands that have entered the mainstream collecting arena in the past decade.

It was during the First World War that the convenience of the wristwatch began to replace the pocketwatch but it really came into its own with the production of bespoke ‘tool’ watches for submariners and airmen later in the century.

Surprise bid highlights demand for vintage Rolex accessories at auction.

An 18th century pocket watch by Gibraltarian goldsmith Henry Cowper emerged for sale at Rowley’s auction house in Ely. It belonged to a Lincolnshire private collector who bought it over 50 years ago for £1 from a former resident of the Rock.

Two single-owner collections built up over lifetimes were well received at Canterbury Auction Galleries (20% buyer’s premium) on February 5-6.

A rare Longines centre seconds military wristwatch – a type developed in 1944 for the rigours of airborne work by the Research & Development team of the War Department – sold for a multi-estimate £11,200 at Barbara Kirk (15% buyer’s premium) in Penzance on November 27 last year.

Testament to a vibrant market for vintage Tudor wristwatches, a very scarce Oysterdate – the reference 7031 or ‘Homeplate’ – proved the star of Hansons’ Christmas auction at Bishton Hall, Staffordshire.

This Omega ‘Weems’ Royal Air Force pilot’s wristwatch below was one of the sought-after entries in a 311-lot auction of watches and jewellery at Miller & Miller (18/15% buyer’s premium) in New Hamburg, Ontario, on November 24.

Eclipsed in price by a £150,000 pearl (News, ATG No 2369), the c.1810 Swiss gold automaton pocket watch shown below was at least as eye-catching at the Roseberys (25% buyer’s premium) jewellery and watches auction on November 20.

When Alan Wardle’s niece searched online for family history she uncovered his father’s long-lost First World War presentation pocket watch coming up at auction.

The London watchmaker John Ilbery, active from 1780-1839, is credited with the invention of the ‘montre chinoise’, highly ornate goldenamel watches made for the Chinese market.

There was a time when vintage Omega represented a cost-effective alternative to vintage Rolex. Today, the rule does not always apply.

Among the many versions of the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner, the reference 5508 with its James Bond association is perhaps the best known.

The Fine Jewellery and Watches auction at Sworders of Stansted Mountfitchet on November 20 will include this Cartier Art Deco rose-cut diamond, black and white enamel and seed pearl-set pendant watch, c.1915.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.