‘Extremely rare’ watch saved from being dumped in a skip fetches £40,000 at auction

A watch has been sold at auction for £40,000 after being saved from a skip.

The Paul Ditisheim deck watch, described as "extremely rare," attracted bidders from around the world when it came up for sale.

The timepiece, destined for the rubbish heap, achieved more than five times its pre-sale estimate at Mallams Auctioneers in Oxford.

Years earlier, the watch had narrowly escaped destruction after the previous owner's father intervened to prevent it from being discarded in a skip.

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Duncan Lloyd, who conducted the auction, expressed his delight at the outcome.

He said: "It was a real joy to have this rare and beautiful Paul Ditisheim deck watch in the Mallams Oxford sale room, and an even greater relief that it was saved."

Mr Lloyd described the result as "fantastic", given the timepiece had been "thankfully" rescued from disposal.

The watch itself is a white metal, open-face design featuring a keyless lever mechanism and twin outer cases.

Its dial bears the signature Paul Ditisheim, La Chaux-de-Fonds, along with the inscription Grand Prix Paris 1900, indicating an award won by the maker at the turn of the century.

Roman numerals mark the hours, while blued steel hands complete the elegant face of this remarkable timepiece.

Mr Lloyd spoke of his satisfaction at overseeing the sale, which drew interest from collectors worldwide.

The global attention reflected the exceptional rarity of the piece, with the auction house noting that works by Ditisheim seldom appear on the market.

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The competitive bidding ultimately pushed the final hammer price far beyond what experts had initially anticipated for the rescued watch.

Paul Ditisheim was a distinguished Swiss horologist and inventor who made significant contributions to watchmaking during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Born in 1868 to a prosperous Swiss family with established connections to the watch industry.

He went on to establish his own firm, Solvil et Titus, in 1892.

The company earned a strong reputation for producing chronometers of exceptional precision, according to Mallams.

Throughout his career, Mr Ditisheim received numerous accolades for his craftsmanship and innovations in timekeeping.

He sold his business two decades before his death, which occurred in Geneva in 1945.

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