Few watch collectors have ever led as charmed an existence as Winston Churchill. Many of the legendary British prime ministerâs timepieces were given to him as gifts by fawning supportersâincluding an 18-karat gold pocket watch, a Louis Cottier-designed Agassiz and Co. specimen with a painterly enamel dial, and gold Lemania Chronograph, all of which have come up for auction in recent years. One key admirer was none other than Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf, who gave Churchill a gold Datejustâthe Crownâs 100,000th chronometer. Now, another watch from Churchillâs personal collection is up for sale.
Like the others, this watch was also a gift to Churchill. The piece is a Movado Calendograph in gold, up for sale for £150,000. Churchill was clearly a fan of the precious metal. When Wilsdorf offered up the Datejust, Churchill didnât just happily acceptâhe requested it come in rose gold. While Churchillâs other watches were presents from brand founders and folks like Herbert Henry Asquith, who would eventually become prime minister himself, this Movado came from the citizens of Switzerland.
Churchill was visiting Switzerland in the summer of 1946 when he received this watch. The presentation, recorded by the Zurich-based retailer Beyer, is filled with all kinds of historical tidbits that should delight watch collectors and dads everywhere. The watch was sent to Zurichâs Hôtel Dolder Grand, where Churchill was staying, with an accompanying note: âDear Mr Churchill, We take the liberty of giving to you, with this letter, a gold Calendograf wristwatch as a souvenir of your visit to Zurich and as witness of our admiration and gratitude. We ardently hope that this watch will only record for you, your family, and your country, hours of happiness, joy, and prosperity.â Even cooler is that a member of Churchillâs staff left a small note on the letter: âmagnificent watch which tells the month & day of week as well!”
When it comes to Churchillâs collection, watches and history are often intertwined. The aforementioned piece from Louis Cottier was part of a set of pocket watches that went to leaders of the Allied powers who commanded forces in World War II: Churchill, French president Charles de Gaulle, the Soviet revolutionary Joseph Stalin, and US president Harry Truman. Churchillâs War Rooms included a clock on the wall that the bunker-turned-museum now sells in the gift shop. It was an important enough symbol that, at the end of the war, one worker put a square on the clock around the letter âV,â for victory.
Churchill was a true watch lover. He is best known for using a Breguet pocketwatch that he nicknamed âThe Turnip.â There arenât any pictures of him wearing the Movado thatâs now up for sale, but it does bear scuffed-up marks that Churchill hopefully made himself. This Movado also carries other pieces of historic significance. Whoever buys it might spend more time looking at the watchâs caseback, engraved with the phrase “To Winston Churchill as testimony of the admiration and gratitude of some Swiss citizens, September 1946.”
