There’s an interesting report in today’s Eastern Daily Press here in Britain about a gilded bronze clock, which has been found in an antiques shop in Dereham. The elaborate timepiece is believed to have been brought back to Britain by a soldier. The shop’s owner said the clock belonged to a soldier dispatched to the dictator's bunker after the fall of Berlin in 1945, whose wife refused to display it in her home and chose to sell it after her husband's death. It was made in 1935 and topped with a bronze German eagle and the dealer said the quality of the clock meant it could have come from the desk of the Führer himself - but he was waiting for proof before offering it for sale. “It must have belonged to someone in that bunker and the quality of it means it certainly could have belonged to Hitler. No one would have had a clock like that in Germany at the time - you would almost have to be the top man. It is five-star quality bronze and a five-star Swiss movement. If I can find a photograph of it on his desk, then who knows how much it could make.”
It's a story that vividly highlights the potential upside of provenance, The difference in value if it were proved to have been a clock that stood on Hitler's desk could be tens of thousands of pounds.
