Eppli auctions off Leonid Brezhnev's IWC pocket watch
Eppli auctions off Leonid Brezhnev's IWC pocket watch
The Stuttgart-based auction house for pre-owned luxury starts the spring with an exclusive special auction for luxury and vintage watches.
As part of the "IWC Only" auction, more than 80 items from the Swiss watch manufacturer will go under the hammer on 4 April 2025.
The absolute highlight for watch collectors and history enthusiasts is a savonnette pocket watch owned by the former head of state of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev, which he received as a birthday present in 1972.
Leonid Brezhnev's wife Viktoria Brezhneva knew her husband's passion for luxurious timepieces and gave him the IWC timepiece as a birthday present in 1972
She had the following lines engraved by hand on the back of the case cover in Cyrillic script: "For dear Leonid Ilyich, on your birthday, 19 December 1972" (translated).
In the 1980s - after Brezhnev's death - the watch found a new owner: "The consignor's father had good contacts in Russian political circles, including Gorbachev. This is how he met Viktoriya Brezhneva, who sold him the pocket watch and other watches from her late husband's estate," explains Peter Dwornik, watch expert at Eppli.
Witness to history - a piece for collectors and enthusiasts
The starting price of the pocket watch is €12,000, including buyer's premium. "It is very difficult for us to estimate what price this historically highly interesting piece will ultimately sell for," says Peter Dwornik, adding:
"With this auction, we hope to reach people who have the relevant collecting expertise and are interested in watches with history and the political events of the 1970s and 1980s."
Peter Dwornik (Eppli watch expert)
More than 80 exceptional IWC watches at auction
In addition to Brezhnev's pocket watch, the more than 80 items up for auction at the "IWC Only" special auction include numerous vintage wristwatches from the 1940s to 1970s, antique pocket watches and rare and exclusive models, such as a pilot's watch in platinum or a "Da Vinci" with a perpetual calendar from the pen of Kurt Klaus. The IWC watchmaker is responsible for "Da Vinci" from 1985, the watch brand's first perpetual calendar, which was also equipped with a chronograph function.
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