Timeless timepieces 

10/08/2018     Watches

Pocket watches were ultimately the first real portable timepieces which could be owned by private individuals. Before wrist watches, and certainly before smartphones, the pocket watch was one of the most dependable ways to keep time. The pocket watch was convenient and reliable, keeping time on the move without the need to locate a public clock. 

Lot 763, 14 August 2018 Watches August – est £300–500

The pocket watch reached its height of popularity in the nineteenth centuryDuring WWI, the wristwatch emerged as a new and incredibly practical timepiece. The mode of wearing watches soon became fashionable out with the armed forces and has remained the watch of choice since. 

Lot 795, 14 August 2018 Watches August – est £200–400 

Although not strictly fashionable, the enduring status and popularity of the pocket watch is perhaps just one reason to explain the discovery of beautiful examples in boxes or attics, left behind by grandparents, great aunts and other ancestors. 

Lot 756, 4 April 2017 Watches August – sold £1200 

With pocket watches achieving hammer prices ranging from £40 to thousands of pounds, there has never been a better time to discover the value of your own pocket watch at McTear’s.  

Hannah Murphy

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