A WATCH containing a unique dead spider could sell for thousands of pounds at an auctioneer in Birmingham.
A one-of-one watch containing the corpse of a wolf spider could sell for £2,000 at Fellows Auctioneers in Birmingham.
The timepiece was created by Swiss watchmaking brand ArtyA and is called a Son of Earth “Arachnophobia” watch.
The auction will take place on Monday 16th August and with an estimate of £1,300 – £2,000, the watch is included as Lot 207 in the Luxury Watch Sale.
Kes Crockett, Watch Specialist from Fellows Auctioneers, said: “This very unusual and eye-catching watch was created using techniques not seen anywhere else in the watchmaking industry.
“The high voltage lightning bolt around the case is particularly interesting. There are some gold leafs and artistic colouring details on the face of the watch to go alongside the wolf spider in the middle of the item.”
The arachnophobia watch was one of the early pieces produced in 2010 and the spider is displayed with its legs spread across the dial and behind the hands.
ArtyA are a Swiss watchmaking company founded by Yvan Arpa and their watch cases are often struck by lightning bolts or sculpted by an electric arc created by a Tesla coil.
It includes a working automatic movement and a box in an almost unused condition and has a strap made using the skin of a cane toad because according to legend lightning can’t harm the amphibian.
At the auction hundreds of other high-end watches from a variety of brands will be on offer and the auction house offers selected viewing days in both London and Birmingham.
ArtyA uses unconventional raw materials to create one-of-a-kind pieces not seen anywhere else in the world of horology and their other watches feature real bullets, butterfly wings, and tobacco leaves.
