Churchill’s yellow gold world time Victory Watch sells for £485,000 at Sotheby’s in London

We reported about this unique piece when it was announced by Sotheby’s London that it will go under hammer this September. The auction took place yesterday, on September 22^nd with the Churchill watch fetching £485,000, eight times the lowest estimates.

Churchill’s Victory Watch is part of a collection of four watches created for Allied leaders after WWII, the other three pieces being given to de Gaulle, Stalin,and Truman.

The enamel dial is decorated with a miniature painting of St. George slaying the dragon, a symbol of victory of good aver evil, while the back of the case features an engraving of a V for Victory embracing the world map and a personalized dedication: “1939 – Prime Minister Winston Spencer Churchill – 1945”.

It was made approximately in 1945 by Louis Cottier, a watchmaker known as the inventor of the world time mechanism, in collaboration with Agassiz and Co., at the request of a group of Swiss citizens.

In 2015, we are 70 years after the end of WWII and 50 years since the death of Winston Churchill, historic relics like the Victory Watch have an important role in reminding us of the past, and if they happen to be horological masterpieces, so much the better.