A specialist sale being held by auctioneers Bishop & Miller in Suffolk next month will feature lots with links to two legendary music stars.
The Jewellery and Watches auction is taking place at the firm’s saleroom in Stowmarket on Saturday, April 1, but the celebrity provenance of two of the star items is no April Fool’s Day joke.
Lot 630 will be a Rolex Daytona watch which was first purchased by Eric Clapton from Watches of Switzerland in London in May 2014.
It is being sold with two straps – the original 18 carat gold Rolex strap and, currently attached to the watch, a rubber strap preferred by Clapton which was fitted in Bond Street, London, and made solely to fit the Rolex Daytona model.
Once the watch was changed to his taste, Clapton wore it until it was purchased by a Rolex collector towards the end of last year. It is expected to sell for between £30,000 and £50,000, with interest expected both from watch collectors and Eric Clapton fans.
Lot 519 will be a Boucheron sapphire mounted rectangular powder compact, featuring a concealed mirror overlaid with a yellow metal pierced open work panel decorated with floral and foliate motifs and tropical bird below a butterfly. The French-made item, from the Elton John collection, is expected to fetch £300 to £500.
In all the sale will involve more than 700 lots, also including a Rolex Submariner Oyster watch, estimated at £3,000 to £5,000, a Laco Second World War Luftwaffe air crew beobachtungsuhr wristwatch, estimated at £1,500 to £2,000, and a fine diamond set bracelet estimated at £4,500 to £5,000.
Oliver Miller, managing director of Bishop & Miller, said: “We are extremely excited by this auction; we are attracting a lot of interest from across the world with many lots in this sale.
“We have a strong American market and a lot of interest from across the UK as well, so hopefully these star lots will fly and to attract such a high number of entries into this sale is great for the business. I am really excited about this auction and can’t wait to start auctioning all the lots.”
The sale will be open for public viewing on Wednesday,March 29, from 9.30am to 4.30pm, Thursday, March 30, from 9.30am to 7pm, and Friday, March 31, from 9.30am to 4.30pm, plus from 8.30am on the day of the sale for the duration of the auction.
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