The £1.2m royal watch trio going under the hammer

"Speaking of the watches for sale, Daryn Schnipper, Chairman of Sotheby's International Watch Division says,"it is difficult to overstate the collection's historical significance as one of the most influential private watch and automata collections in the world It represents the pinnacle of horological achievement spanning the 17th , 18th and 19th centuries and offers a staggering diversity in craftsmanship "Sir David was also interested in aspects of modern invention and science during his lifetime and so it is no surprise that he was attracted to works by Breguet.

As such, he managed to assemble an unprecedented collection of Breguet's most important pieces, staring with the most famous of them: the Marie Antoinette." Now a decision has been made to sell certain pieces of art, vertu and watches in order to raise funds to secure the future of the museum and its outreach programme Most of the works for sale were previously in storage and will be sold over two days from 27 October, with 64 watches from Sir David's collection going under the hammer on 28 October On choosing the watches for sale, Schnipper says: "These watches put on full display Breguet's mechanical genius, and represent his extensive clientele, drawing from European royalty and aristocracy [but] we have been extremely careful to select only the watch whose dispersal would not disturb the core of this magnificent collection". More