An Isle of Man-made watch has achieved a record £660,000 at an online auction.

A Series 1 white gold Roger W. Smith watch is one of 18 Series 1 pieces produced by Mr Smith.

It included a dial customisation, a feature requested by the auction’s host ‘A Collected Man’ which specialises in dealing with independently-made watches.

Famed Sulby watchmaker Roger Smith moved to the island to work with George Daniels. He is renowned as one of the world’s top watch-makers, and has an OBE for his services to British watch-making.

bidding

The two-week auction ended with a bidding war by four parties, to achieve a new record price for Roger Smith, and the second highest price achieved by a British watch-maker in an auction.

This auction marked the second time a Roger W. Smith Series 1 has been auctioned and after Roger closed his waiting list in 2021, it was a rare opportunity to buy a new Roger Smith watch.

As such, the auction saw watch collectors bidding from all over the world, with the final buyer coming from Eastern Europe.

Mr Smith said: ‘I am naturally interested to see how our collectors’ watches perform when they auction them.

‘Nevertheless, a hammer price of £660,000 was a major achievement and I am extremely grateful to A Collected Man for agreeing to donate 20% of their profits from this sale to the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers, the trade body for which I am chairman.’

He added: ‘The funds are earmarked for a project we are embarking on to provide careers advice and to connect horology students to the 76 British watch and clock brands we represent. It is vital that we encourage more young talent into our sector and the proceeds from this auction will go a long way to help us achieve that goal.’