Former president’s watch auctioned for more than R10 million

A watch worn by French wartime hero and president Charles de Gaulle fetched more than half a million euro (€) as part of an auction of his personal items in Paris, auction house Artcurial said.

The €537,920 (R10,497,019.29) sale price on Monday evening, 16 December set a worldwide record for a watch by 150-year-old French brand LIP.

The manufacturer, based in Besançon in eastern France, still produces a “General de Gaulle” watch thanks to the patronage of the man regarded as the country’s greatest modern statesman.

Monday’s auction of de Gaulle memorabilia by Artcurial, which included letters, a book manuscript and even a school report, raised €5.6 million in total.

A watch by French brand LIP worn by French president Charles de Gaulle. Photography Courtesy of Artcurial©

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The watch buyers

The sale was organised by de Gaulle’s descendants, who inherited a trove of personal items from his son, Philippe, who died at the age of 102 in March.

Several French institutions including the French National Library and the National Archives were buyers at the sale, which took place over eight hours, Artcurial said.

De Gaulle spearheaded resistance to the Nazi occupation of France, and he emerged as the country’s post-war leader, before then serving as the architect of the current constitution and president from 1958.

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