GENEVA (AP) — A historical pocket watch made for Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II (1844 – 1913), “The Negus Watch”, dating from 1893, is displayed during an auction preview for the media at Sotheby’s in Geneva, Switzerland, this week.
The auction, Magnificent Jewels, will go on sale November 17 in Geneva.
The Watch was a gift to Leon Chefneux in recognition of his contribution to the implementation of Ethiopia’s first railway line, as inscribed on the inside of the case ‘Don de Sa Majeste Menelik II Empereur d’Ethiopie’.
The yellow gold chronometer pocket watch’s case embraces a white enamel dial. It exhibits a blue and white enamel embellishment, Ethiopian polychrome symbols, used in place of hour markers, subsidiary seconds, a white enamel replacement dial, as well as a back cover, suggestive of the monarch’s crown, infoniac.com says.
Paved with rubies and diamonds, the model is offered in its presentation case and accompanied by the original First Class Geneva Observatory Certificate.
The estimated value is CHF 30,000 – 50,000 (US$ 29,100 – 48,500).