Pocket watch smashes world record with $2.7 million price tag at auction

By Adam Dutton

A British-made pocket watch, which took four years to make, has smashed a world record - after fetching $2.7 million at auction.

The timepiece, packed with moon phases, an alarm and a thermometer, was hailed as “one of the world’s most complicated vintage pocket watches ever made.”

The antique was crafted in 1907 by Joseph Player, a watchmaker from Coventry.

It was tipped to fetch $1 million but stunned bidders when it sold for 2,238,000 Swiss francs - equivalent to $2,122,896.

Joseph's great-great-grandson Carl, 31, traveled to Geneva in Switzerland to watch the auction last week.

He told the BBC: “The day before, they invited us to the exhibition, so I actually got to hold the watch.

“Even though I didn’t meet my great-great-grandfather, by holding that watch, I felt a connection to him.”

The historic sale at Phillips’ Decade One auction in Geneva set a world record for an antique British pocket watch.

Auctioneers said the J Player & Sons Hyper Complication Pocket Watch “demonstrated the incredible technical prowess of English watchmaking at the time” and called it “one of the most complicated English timepieces ever made.”

The firm was founded in 1858 by Joseph Player, who created the first keyless watch and made devices for the Royal Observatory.

In the 1900s, England was the home of watch-making before Switzerland.

The watch took four years to make and was kept by its previous owner, who remains anonymous, for 51 years.

The two-day sale drew 1,885 registered bidders across 72 countries, and nearly 800 collectors and enthusiasts attended in person.

A spokesperson for the auctioneers said: “The atmosphere throughout the weekend reflected a sense of friendship and celebration."