Spy 'camera' watch sold for £21,600

May 10 2007

A RARE watch made to hide a spy camera has been sold at a West Midlands auction for £21,600.

The 19th Century Watch Camera was made in Birmingham and sold for much more than expected at an auction in Knowles.

The watch, a Lancaster Ladies Watch Camera, was sold to an anonymous bidder after the item was brought to Bonhams auctioneers by the grandson of the original owner.

He had noticed he had the watch, which looked like an ordinary nickel-plated pocket watch case when closed - but when he opened it he found it actually contained a tiny camera.

Frances Godden, from the auction house, said there was a lot of interest in the piece.

"It went for way more than the estimation. We are really delighted with that."

The Lancaster Watch Camera was patented in October 1886 and made until 1890.

Lionel Hughes, Bonhams' Camera Specialist, said: "Such tiny cameras were the forerunners for the spy camera - a mechanism disguised as a different object.

"However, it would have been very inconvenient to use as four very small catches had to be released in order to remove the glass screen and to fit a separate metal sensitised material holder for each exposure."

He said as a result, the model sadly sold badly and is much rarer than a later improved version. Only four original models are known to exist.