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Wednesday, 14th November 2007 (4266 views)

An 18-carat gold watch formerly owned by Napoleon's wife has been sold at a Geneva auction this week.

The historic timepiece sold for a record-breaking £650,000 – more than seven times the estimate given by auction house Christies - to a collector at the three-day event, the Telegraph reported.

Crafted by Breguet in 1800 for Josephine Bonaparte, the watch is encased in gold and encrusted with diamonds and blue enamel.

The watch was originally intended to be worn on a chain around her neck and also contains a diamond-set letter H.

Josephine Bonaparte presented the watch to her daughter, Hortense de Beauharnais, who later became the queen of Holland.

More than 430 other timepieces were on sale at the spree of Geneva auctions, which were attended by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is reported to have a penchant for Rolexes, according to the newspaper.

One Rolex watch on display was rumoured to be the world's first water-resistant timepiece and was previously sported by actor Sean Connery in two James Bond films.

 

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