Winston Churchill's Rolex (and other pieces)

Winston Churchill was a British statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, including during the Second World War, and then again from 1951 to 1955. Although Churchill is best remembered for his wartime leadership, Churchill was also a Nobel Prize winning writer and historian and a painter.

Because of his help leading the Allied Forces to victory during World War II, Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex, gifted Churchill the 100,000th Rolex Chronometer. Churchill’s Rolex was an Oyster Perpetual Datejust in 18k gold with a fluted bezel, white dial and jubilee bracelet.

Churchill also owned another gold watch, an 18k yellow gold Lemania chronograph, a gift from the Canton de Vaud. This piece actually predates his Datejust and was sold at auction by Sotheby’s in 2017. While the auction house estimated the value of the watch to be between 15,000 and 25,000 GBP, it sold at auction for a whopping 162,500 GBP (around $223,000 USD).

Churchill’s gold Lemania he received as a gift in 1946. Photo courtesy of Hodinkee.

The engravings on the back of Churchill’s watch indicates it was a gift from the Canton de Vaud. Photo courtesy of Hodinkee.

What do you think of Churchill’s timepieces? Comment below.