A teacher realised it was worth thousands after watching Antiques Roadshow
A retired schoolteacher found the “holy grail” of wartime wristwatches in a draw after seeing an episode of the Antiques Roadshow – and it could now fetch £15,000.
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, went looking for the heirloom after he saw an expert valuing a similar timepiece and realised his could be worth a small fortune. During the show, clocks expert Richard Price told the owner of a wartime Omega watch that it was part of a collection known as the ‘the dirty dozen’.
He explained these wristwatches were commissioned for the military by the War Office during Second World War and manufactured by twelve chosen clock markers. Richard valued the Omega at £2,500 pounds but said the rarest of the collection was made by a Swiss company called Grana, later known as Certina.
He called these watches “the holy grail of the Dirty Dozen” as there were only a few thousand produced at the time - and just 20 known to be in current circulation. After watching the segment, filmed at the Ulster Folk Museum, the former teacher rushed over to a chest of drawers and found the sought-after timepiece, where it has sat for half a century.
He now plans to put it under the hammer at John Taylors auction rooms, in Louth, tomorrow (Tuesday April 12), where it’s expected to sell for £13,000 to £15,000. Auctioneer James Laverack, of John Taylors, said collectors would pay a high price for the watch so that they could complete a full set of the period timepieces.
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