Rare Royal Navy Rolex sold for £120,000 at Bonhams auction

A military-issue Rolex wristwatch, originally purchased for under £1,000, was sold at Bonhams London Fine Watch sale on 16th December for £120,100.

The watch, which was originally valued at £50,000 to £70,000, was brought to the Antiques Roadshow when the popular TV programme visited Lincolnshire in early 2015. The owner was told that the timepiece was worth a great deal more than he had anticipated.

The Rolex was ordered by the Royal Navy in a series of watches for use by their specialist personnel. The dials are marked with the logo ‘Circle T’, which is the international symbol for Tritium – a treatment the watch received to help the wearer see the hands in the dark.

Meanwhile, the first instalment from the collection of a ‘European Nobleman’ sold well, lead by the highly anticipated rectangular rose gold Glashütte tourbillon wristwatch, which sold for £25,000.

The auction also included the sale of a Rolex ‘Jean-Claude Killy’, named after the famous three-time Olympic gold medalist and which previously held the title of the ‘the most complicated Rolex ever made’, which sold for £74,500.

Jonathan Darracott, head of watches at the auction house, said: “Bonhams’ fine watch sale achieved an excellent £1.5m, with more than 80% sold. We now look forward to 2016, where the remaining watches from the incredible European Nobleman collection of 2,000 watches will be sold.”