LONDON.- In London on 22 September 2015 Sotheby’s will present for auction a unique Victory Watch commissioned for the great Sir Winston Churchill. It is one of four individual watches created for the Allied Leaders after the Second World War - the others presented to Charles de Gaulle, Joseph Stalin, and Henry Truman. Today, exactly 70 years after the end of WWII and 50 years after the death of one Britain’s greatest leaders, this watch is more than an exquisite masterpiece of horology, it is both an historical testimony to leadership and a symbol of courage.

With an estimate of £60,000 – 100,000, the watch features a distinctive enamel dial showing St. George slaying the dragon, with a trident as the hour hand. As a symbol of the victory of good over evil, of brightness over darkness, as though Churchill has been reimagined as Britain’s modern day saint. ‘V’ for Victory is proudly engraved on the back of case together with a personalized dedication: “1939 – Prime Minister Winston Spencer Churchill – 1945”.

Commissioned by a group of prominent Swiss citizens in acknowledgement of Churchill’s strength and leadership during WWII, the watch was much treasured by Churchill. On receiving the watch in 1946, he wrote to thank the group for their “superb gift”, saying it would always remind him of their “beautiful country” and “friendly feelings”. He added: “I admire so much the care and the quality with which this delicate example of craftsmanship and Swiss precision was realised.”

This exceptional timepiece was designed by the leading watch maker Louis Cottier, in collaboration with the distinguished manufacturer Agassiz and Co. Cottier invented the intricate the “Heure Universelle” (World Time) mechanism and this vintage piece, in beautiful condition, is an important and extremely rare of this type. Additionally, Cottier made the same complication for some of the most celebrated manufacturers such as Patek Philippe, Rolex and Vacheron Constantin.

This watch will be a celebratory highlight of Sotheby’s London’s reintroduction of Watches sales in September.