# @sothebyswatches on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DPDTLUfjFYE
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/35078267-sothebyswatches-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/8fa56213e3.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-09-26T04:10:54.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Sotheby's Watches (@sothebyswatches) — https://gondola.cc/sothebyswatches

## Caption

This week, we dig into the #SothebysArchives to highlight five of the most complicated pocket watches ever sold at Sotheby’s in our 281 years.

Number five on the list takes us back to the summer of 2003 in New York City, where the 77mm across by 31.5mm thick, S. Smith & Son no. 309-2—housing 11 complications featuring a tri-color enamel dial—debuted at auction.

Founded in 1851 as a jewelry retailer by Samuel Smith in South London, S. Smith & Son was the most prominent maker and retailer of complicated timepieces by the turn of the 20th century. In WWII, the firm supplied millions of aircraft instruments, clocks, and speedometers to the British Armed Forces and continued to manufacture endurance watches and wristwatches in the post-war era—including the one that accompanied Edmund Hillary on his ascent of Mount Everest.

No. 309-2 is one of the most complicated British pocket watches ever produced. The incredible dial is made up of 10 separate pieces, mostly fired enamel, but with several chapter rings in solid gold. The 11 complications here include a perpetual calendar, minute repeater, grande and petite sonnerie, and split-seconds chronograph.

Sold at Sotheby’s twice, this Smith grand complication would resurface 16 years later as lot 132 in 2019, achieving £218,750.

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## Tags

sothebysarchives

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