Watches & Watch accessories

Pocket watches owned by Horatio Nelson, Thomas Hardy and Cuthbert Collingwood and consulted throughout the Battle of Trafalgar were sold together as a single lot in London on December 9.

The Ivoire group of auction firms has salerooms across the French regions that regularly hold auctions covering a range of specialist categories as well as more general sales.

The 165.024 reference Omega Seamaster 300 was one of the most robust and practical dive watches of the Sixties.

Philippe Auguste Courvoisier (1803-73), a member of the famed Courvoisier family of Swiss watchmakers, specialised in the production of watches with portraits of 19th century royalty, such as Queen Victoria, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte or, in the case of watches sold in London and Stuttgart, the Ottoman Sultan Abdulmecid I.

Jean Rousseau (1606-84) came from a renowned watchmaking family that settled in Geneva, the cradle for prosecuted French Protestants in the 1630s.

Early November is always a busy time for pocket watch collectors. In the space of a few days, specialist sales are traditionally held in Switzerland and Germany which offer a broad selection of historical watches for all tastes and most budgets.

The Rolex reference 6150, often dubbed the ‘Pre-Explorer’, was introduced in 1953 and famously tested by various Everest mountaineering expeditions over the coming years, including the first official summit by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953.

Chiswick Auctions set what is thought to be a record for a Dunhill lighter when a silver and enamel ‘fancy shape’ pocket lighter and watch hammered at £19,000.

Engraving indicates timepiece had been taken during the 1815 battle and presented to a lieutenant

From the mid-18th century onwards, members of the Courvoisier family belonged to the most important and innovative watchmakers in Switzerland.

The opportunity to obtain a ‘Kew A Certificate’ did not just attract local British makers but drew in Rolex as well.

A rare US trench watch emerged for sale at Eastbourne Auctions (27% buyer’s premium) in East Sussex.

The Longines Weems stainless steel cased pilot’s wristwatch was invented in 1935 by US naval officer and navigation pioneer Philip van Horn Weems.

A simple Edwardian open face silver pocket watch used on the Trans-Antarctic Expedition sold for £2600 at Kinghams (26% buyer’s premium) in Moreton-in-Marsh.

An unusual 19th century gold watch by the Swiss maker Sylvain Mairet caught the eye of numerous bidders at a recent sale at Dr Crott (25% buyer’s premium) in Mannheim.

Whether captivated by exquisite jewellery or the clean lines and tactile allure of British studio pottery, the V&A’s two summer exhibitions are not to be missed

The Swiss watchmaker Patek Philippe and American jeweller Tiffany & Co recognised the merits of a union of luxury brands in the mid 19th century.