Nelson's watch up for auction

The gold watch British naval hero Horatio Nelson had in his pocket when he was shot dead by a French sniper at the height of the Battle of Trafalgar goes on sale in October . . .

The Josiah Emery watch is one of only 22 examples of the master watchmaker's timepieces still in existence, and its rarity and history have prompted auction house Sotheby's to give it a price tag of 350,000 pounds ($640,000).

"It is the last and the greatest thing left that he owned. It would have been his prize possession," Nelson expert Martyn Downer told Reuters on Friday.

The watch has long been on loan to the Maritime Museum in Greenwich, though it hasn't been on display. Sotheby's doesn't have much online yet besides this page.

Posted by David on June 24, 2005 1:11 PM