The Jaeger-LeCoultre watch was expected to fetch between £650 and £850 when it went under the hammer at Fellows Auctioneers in Birmingham. However the stainless steel military issue wrist watch went on to fetch £6,635.20 when an anonymous buyer picked it up at the auction on June 18. Bids came in from across the room and online as the price rose into the thousands, with the hammer price coming in at £5,200, taking it to £6,635.20 with auction house fees. The watch is stamped with a prominent British Broad Arrow and is numbered 591107. The military timepiece has a black dial with Arabic numeral hour markers, and is fitted to a nylon ‘NATO’ style strap with a stainless steel pin buckle. Steven Yambo, senior watch specialist at Fellows Auctioneers, said: “Military watches are becoming very collectable, and this is a very nice original example. The watch itself had not been messed around with in the past and it shows its battle scars. “It is increasingly difficult to find original examples of military watches like these on the market. “It’s always a pleasure to have a nice military watch in the auction and we look forward to having more go under the hammer in the future. “I can’t wait to see what surprises August’s auction will have in store for us.” The next watch auction will take place on August 13.
A vintage Jaeger-LeCoultre military watch has sold for 10 times its estimated value at auction. The timepiece was bought by a private collector in the United States and is expected to fetch between $800,000 (£670,000) and $1 million (£650,000).