It was standing-room only for the much-anticipated auction of vintage Heuer watches and memorabilia. In a sale that grossed just over £475,000 in total, the star was undoubtedly the all-black 1974 Monaco, tripling its estimate and eventually selling for £48,000.

Watches and collectors’ cars go well together, and a few faces more familiar at Bonhams motoring auctions were to be seen in the New Bond Street venue for the sale of quite possibly the world’s most carefully assembled collection of Heuers.

A Heuer chronograph was a familiar sight on racing drivers' wrists from the early 1960s onwards. Then, through promotional associations with the Swiss driver Jo Siffert and as a timing partner of Ferrari, it became an iconic 1970s brand.

Nowadays, as ‘TAG Heuer’, the high-quality timepieces are linked to the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 team.

Known as the ‘Siffert’ to collectors, the early production 1969 Autavia Chronomatic doubled its estimate, eventually selling for £30,000, while another Monaco – the last-but-one lot in the sale and to ‘Steve McQueen Le Mans’ specification – achieved £18,000.

‘Carrera’ models were much in demand and Lot 96, the 1972 18ct gold model normally reserved for Grand Prix drivers, in ‘new old stock’ condition with case and papers, sold well for £22,800, well over double its estimate.

Most watches, however, sold in the £3500 - £5500 bracket. The unique, modern-day ‘Silverstone’, signed by Jack Heuer himself, garnered a worthy £12,000 for the Green Cross International charity.

After the Haslinger Collection, the Bonhams Watches & Wristwatches Department conducted a general sale which included the Dr George Fisher collection. Highlights included a c.1969 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona selling for £13,200 and an eye-watering £78,000 achieved by the hard-to-find, ‘pointed crown guard’ 1962 Rolex Submariner with rare, 3-6-9 Explorer-type dial.

Please CLICK HERE to see the results.

Text: Steve Wakefield
Photos: Classic Driver