Monarchists in Britain have endured a tough time of late. Just before coronavirus went literally viral, there was a right royal rumble as Prince Harry and Meghan quit the royal family. As if that wasn’t bad enough, 2021 now sees the royal family in danger of losing another of its crown jewels, the King George pocket watch. It may not be as princely as Harry, but it’s arguably of far more material value, at least in the eyes of watch lovers around the world. Indeed, the UK Government has announced that King George’s pocket watch – an exceptionally rare example of a Breguet Four Minute Tourbillon valued at more than £2 million – is at risk of leaving the country unless a UK buyer can be found to stump up for it and save the work for the nation. Designed by Abraham-Louis Breguet, the one-of-a-kind watch belonged to King George III in the early 19th century. “This watch is a tour-de-force of the art of horology,” said Pippa Shirley, a member of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest in an interview with europastar.com. “At the very cutting edge of technology, the…
The post Britain runs the risk of losing another of its crown jewels – King George’s Breguet pocket watch appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.