Auction collection includes rare 1940 Rolex

Auctioneers Dreweatts & Bloomsbury have announced a collection of 60 vintage and modern wristwatches that will be auctioned at the company’s Newbury auction house in Berkshire next month.

The Fine Watches, Pens & Luxury Accessories collection will be available for public viewing at the Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions London saleroom in Maddox Street, Mayfair, a week before the March 26th sale. The collection is also available to view online.

The collection, ranging in estimates from £500 to £12,000, includes watches from Audemars Piguet, Breitling, Omega, Cartier, Bulgari, Franck Muller and Vacheron Constantin.

Highlights include a Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control 1000 Hours that refers to the brand’s 1000 hours control test that all watches must go through before being released for sale. This example, No. 0940, from 2000 comes with original paperwork and is estimated to sell for £4,000-6,000.

The auction includes a collection of 19 Rolex watches and the opportunity to bid on a very rare Rolex Chronograph from 1940. The reference 2508 features a 17 jewel Rolex chronograph valjoux movement and is expected to go for an estimated £8,000-12,000.

James Bond wore a Breitling for the first and only time in the 1965 film Thunderball which brought the Top Time to the public’s attention. Dreweatts & Bloomsbury’s collection includes a later example of the Top Time from the 1970’s. The Reference 2007/33, no. 12-2.4.18 offers buyer an opportunity to own a Breitling chronograph that looks like no other in steel and chrome-plate. The watch comes with a three piece case and is estimated to sell for between £1,000-1,500.

James Buttery

Editor of WatchPro, the WatchPro Hot 100 and The Luxury Report.

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