Martial arts superstar Bruce Lee’s watch sells for huge price at auction in Hong Kong
- Unidentified buyer snaps up rare collectible for much more than expected price of HK$80,000 to HK$150,000
- Lee gifted the Universal Genève Polerouter to his friend and confidant Herb Jackson around 1968
A watch once owned by martial arts legend Bruce Lee has been sold for HK$225,000 (US$28,700) at an auction held in Hong Kong – far exceeding its expected asking price.
Pieces of Bruce Lee memorabilia are usually hot items and the Universal Genève Polerouter timepiece (circa 1950s) was described as a “very rare and historically interesting yellow gold-plated stainless steel wristwatch with sweep centre seconds”.
It was sold to an unidentified buyer as item 860 of 82 lots during the Phillips & Blackbird: Sports auction on Monday night at the JW Marriott Hotel.
The timepiece had been expected to fetch between HK$80,000 to HK$150,000 but was sold for a much higher price.
The watch came with a letter of provenance from its previous owner, Herb Jackson, who was Lee’s martial arts student, friend and confidant in the United States.
Lee had given Jackson the timepiece as a gift and the watch was handed down to Jackson’s son, Mark Ashton-Jackson, before it went under the hammer and sold on Monday.
Lee had remained good friends with Herb Jackson, who helped build training equipment such as boxing gloves for Lee and other apparatus to help him hone his legendary abs and powerful physique.
According to the provenance, the watch features “a two-tone gold dial with raised gold edge and gold index hour markers, with black crosshair design”.
Lee had always worn his watches with a cuff-style leather strap and the item was considered a collectible that many Bruce Lee fans had been eyeing.
The provenance goes on to say the “case is gold-capped stainless steel with stainless back” and that there is “wear to leather band and some visible toning to face and discolourations of hands” but that the item is otherwise in good condition.
According to the letter of authenticity, Ashton-Jackson stated the item was owned and used by Bruce Lee, the legendary martial arts and action film star, who gave the timepiece to his father as a gift around 1968.
“The item was used by Bruce Lee and is documented in many photos and magazines. It was a part of Bruce Lee’s training regime and helped better his physicality,” the letter said.
“This time is historical in nature and marks a point in time when Bruce Lee was seeking international fame for his martial arts/film career.”
The watch was also accompanied by a period photograph of Lee wearing ticker-frame Persol Ratti sunglasses.
The auction was the first watch auction in the world to be curated by an Asian collector and was put together by Blackbird’s founder T.K. Mak.
