Watches & Watch accessories

Based in workshops near the Place des Bergues in Geneva in the 1850s-60s, the jeweller Auguste Dutertre (1798-1866) found a niche making so-called ‘bijoux à montres’ - watch movements concealed in notebooks, powder-boxes or, as here, a pair of lorgnettes.

A gold and enamel Dent pocket watch given by Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, to the Italian opera singer Giuseppina Grassini surfaced for sale at an auction in Austria

Piaget launched its Polo wristwatch model in 1979.

The latest silver and jewellery sale at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (26/25% buyer’s premium) in Exeter included two Georgian 18ct gold pocket watches from two generations of the Drummond family.

Chanel No 5 was perfected in the late summer and autumn of 1920 by the French-Russian chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux.

In last week’s news story about auction house overall sales totals for 2024 (ATG No 2679) we said that the highest-value objects sold in the UK by any regional auction house last year were two Antonine over-lifesize busts of empresses which hammered at £600,000 each at Lyon & Turnbull.

Our selection of lots from 12 upcoming sales

The 200th auction at specialist clock and watch saleroom Klöter’s (23% buyer’s premium) in Grafenau contained almost 950 timekeepers from all eras.

Turkish dealer Efe Gurger has a retail outlet at Grays Antique Market, Mayfair, which he has been managing since April. The 25-year old has become popular for his rare vintage watch timepieces and jewels.

This remarkable Charles II period silver clock-watch with alarm appeared for sale at Wotton Auction Rooms in Gloucestershire this month.

A single-owner collection of rare 17th to 19th century pocket watches in Australia achieved a white-glove result with 95% of the sale going to international buyers

An early pocket watch by Abraham Louis Breguet with the low serial number 104 was one of the highlights of a recent watch sale at Cortrie (21% buyer’s premium) in Hamburg.

A selection of six watch lots at UK auctions

Updated 1960s and 70s versions of earlier Cartier classics are much in demand. The best are those made for the London boutique during the Jean-Jacques Cartier years, with the cases commissioned from the London workshop Wright & Davies and the manual wind movements supplied by Jaeger-LeCoultre.

Camerer Cuss watches carry a certain cachet.

In Norman Dean’s day, to be a watch collector was to collect pocket watches. In today’s market, when the 20th century mechanical wristwatch is king, demand for pocket watches is now markedly segmented.

In the 18th century, it was common practice for English watchmakers to spend several years in Paris where they were able to learn from the greatest craftsmen of the day, before returning home.