‘Cloak and dagger’ auction for £500,000 watch

ONE of the rarest watches in the world will go on sale this weekend but auctioneers have forbidden buyers from seeing the item in person before purchasing.

The anonymous vendor agreed to sell his limited-edition Richard Mille watch, valued at between £300,000 and £500,000, to refurbish his new multi-million pound house. Experts believe the watch could sell for twice its estimate.

Only nine watches of the Richard Mille RM 030 Carbon Kronometry AN CA 1999 were manufactured by the Swiss brand. However, the seller is so afraid of “shotgun-toting gangsters” stealing the timepiece from Rowley’s Auctioneers in Cambridgeshire that he has refused to hand it over until after the sale. Bidders will instead have to rely on photographs presented at the auction tomorrow. The successful buyer will then meet the vendor at a Richard Mille branch in Bond Street.

Once the watch is officially verified by experts at the shop, the buyer will send a “pre-agreed codeword” over the phone to Rowley’s to approve the transfer of funds.

Roddy Lloyd, managing director for Rowley’s, said the “cloak and dagger” approach was “highly unusual” but the “only way” to make the sale happen. He said: “It’s very uncommon, it has never happened before, not with us anyway. It is such a vulnerable item because it’s small. Whereas if it was a massive painting it would be difficult to sell and easy to identify. But a small watch, limited edition, would be easy to sell on the black market and very easy to put in your pocket and disappear with.

“The seller was adamant that it was a security risk and that it might not only be stolen but that somebody might turn up here and try to burgle or threaten us.”

The identity of the seller remains unclear but he is believed to be a “rather scruffy looking” British man in his late 20s. Mr Lloyd added that the range of watches is popular with “Premier League footballers and singers”.