Holy grail of WW2 watches sells for £12,000

The watch had lain forgotten in a drawer for decades

A World War Two Grana watch sat gathering dust in a drawer has sold at auction for £12,000.

A retired teacher, from North Lincolnshire, had it valued after watching an edition of the Antiques Roadshow.

It is one of the so-called Dirty Dozen wristwatches produced by 12 companies for the military during wartime.

The Grana is one of the rarest as the company produced the fewest watches.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, had watched an edition of the long-running show recorded at the Ulster Folk Museum.

Horological expert Richard Price explained the history of the Dirty Dozen watches to the owner of an Omega watch, which he then valued at up to £2,500.

Mr Price added: "The rare one is the Grana, the holy grail of the Dirty Dozen."

Auctioneer James Laverack said the discovery of the watch was "something of a miracle"

The teacher then looked in a drawer containing items inherited from family members more than 50 years ago and discovered the Grana watch.

James Laverack, auctioneer at John Taylors in Louth, said the discovery was "something of a miracle".

"The retired teacher actually missed the transmission of the Ulster Antiques Roadshow a few weeks ago but, a real stroke of luck, he decided to view it later.

"He knew nothing about the Dirty Dozen nor just how rare the watch is."

Mr Laverack said it is believed between 145,000 to 150,000 watches were made by 12 companies during the war.

"Most of the chosen firms supplied at least 10,000. Omega hit 25,000. Grana made the smallest number, perhaps as few as a thousand.

"Dirty Dozen collectors dream of completing a full set. Only 20 are known to have made it so far - and that's entirely down to the rarity of the Grana."

He said it was a "brilliant" sale and rare for Lincolnshire - "a lot of money for what looks like a fairly ordinary watch."