Clocks, Marine Chronometers and Barometers

Christie’s has been selling clocks since our first auction in 1766. Renowned collections offered for sale include the Magnificent Clocks from the Nezu Museum (2008) and the Abbott Guggenheim Collection of Renaissance clocks and automata (2015).

Our department has a particularly strong record in selling clocks made for the Asian market — clockmakers such as James Cox and Henry Borrell, among others — including the world record price for an English-made clock at auction.

We also sell the very best clocks on the English market, makers from the ‘Golden Age’ of clockmaking: Thomas Tompion, George Graham, Daniel Quare, the Knibb family and Ahasuerus Fromanteel.

Christie’s holds the overall auction world record for a clock, a masterpiece by Karl Faberge which sold for £8,980,500 in 2007. Clocks are sold within all our Decorative Arts auctions and collection sales, with masterworks offered in selected Exceptional Sales. Recent private sales have included the unique Barnard Tompion table clock, via the Acceptance in Lieu scheme, which was permanently allocated to the Science Museum Group.

An ornate antique clock with a large round white dial flanked by two classical bronze figures on a decorative marble and golden base.

No upcoming Clocks, Marine Chronometers and Barometers auctions

Our specialists are currently preparing our next Clocks, Marine Chronometers and Barometers auctions. In the meantime, browse results from past auctions.

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From free valuations to market advice, our specialists are here to answer your questions.

Thomas Williams
International Head of English Furniture & Clocks
London
Call+44 207 752 3239
E-mailtwilliams@christies.com
Thomas joined Christie’s in 2024 assuming overall responsibility for English Furniture & Clocks. Prior to joining Thomas spent 13 years at Sotheby’s during which time he was involved in many of the department’s most successful auction sales.
Paul Gallois
Specialist
London
Call+44 (0) 20 7389 2260
E-mailpgallois@christies.com
Paul Gallois, Director, Head of European Furniture, has been based in London since 2015. Prior to this, he worked as a European Decorative Arts specialist in Christie’s New York in 2014 which was preceded by his training by renowned furniture expert and author Alexandre Pradère.

He now runs the sales of European Furniture and Works of Art at Christie’s London, working closely with the international Decorative Arts team with an important focus on expertise and research on European Furniture masterpieces. He has made important discoveries in this field such as the bureau de pente by Jacques Dubois delivered to Madame de Pompadour which sold in 2018 for £1,871,250 (against an estimate of £70,000-100,000) or the 18th century baron de Besenval provenance of a bureau plat and cartonnier from Marion Lambert collection in 2021.

In 2019, Paul Gallois headed the landmark sale, ‘Masterpieces from a Rothschild collection’, an international success selling for a total of £25,394,625 (against a pre-sale estimate of £8 to 12 million), including five lots of 18th century French furniture selling for over a million pounds.

Paul has a Law degree from the University Panthéon-Assas and also holds a degree in History of Art from the Sorbonne.
Alix Melville
Head of Sale, Associate Specialist
London
Call+44 (0) 20 7389 2226
E-mailamelville@christies.com
Alix joined Christie’s Decorative Arts department in May 2022 as a Junior Specialist working primarily with the English, European, and 19th Century Furniture and Works of Art departments. Since joining she has worked on the Exceptional sales in London, Provenance Revealed: Galerie Steinitz and is co-head of the biannual Collector sale series in London. Before joining Christie’s Alix was with another leading auction house in London for three years and prior to this worked for two years as an advisor to a private collector. She holds an MA in Art History from the University of St Andrews with a particular focus on English and European Decorative Arts from Baroque to Art Nouveau. She was awarded the Trethowan scholarship for her undergraduate dissertation where her research was responsible for the re-attribution of two Broadwood & Sons decorated pianos housed in museums in London and Birmingham, historically attributed to the artist Edward Burne-Jones, to the lesser known female artist Kate Faulkner. After graduation she moved to Italy where she completed the postgraduate certificate program in Art Crime and Cultural Heritage Protection with the Association for Research into Crimes Against Art. She also holds a Diploma in Art Profession Law and Ethics from the Institute of Art and Law in London.
Benjamin Berry
Head of Sale, Associate Specialist
London
Call+44 (0) 20 7389 2775
E-mailbberry@christies.com
Benjamin joined Christie’s Decorative Arts department as a Cataloguer in 2021 and has worked on the biannual Collector sales as well as contributing to the phenomenal success of the sale of the collection of Hubert de Givenchy in June 2022 and the London Exceptional Sale in July 2022. Enthused by history and research, Benjamin works primarily with the English, European, and 19th Century Furniture and Works of Art departments. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Classics and German from Oxford University and prior to joining Christie’s worked with museums and auction houses in the UK and Germany.
Hippolyte de la Féronnière
Head of European Furniture Department
Paris
Call+33 (0)1 40 76 85 73
E-mailhdelaferonniere@christies.com
After studies in law and history of art, Hippolyte de la Féronnière became head of sales in European Furniture and Works of Art at Drouot. On the strength of his seven years of experience in the art market he joined the Furniture department at Christies Paris in 2012.

Within the department, he has contributed to the sales of several exceptional collections, including that of Hélène Rochas (2012), Jean Louis Rémilleux at the Château de Digoine (2015), Boniface de Castellane - Anna Gould (2017), Alberto Pinto (2017) and the collection Juan de Beistegui (2018). His knowledge and expertise led to the discovery of a rare 18th century mirror in golden bronze whose value was previously unrecognised. After realising necessary research, Féronnière coordinated its sale at Christies, attaining 350 000 € for the owners. A further important discovery includes a desk of Jean-Henri Riesener from a French private collection, commissioned by the royal furniture store and acquired by the Centre des Monuments Nationaux. This piece of furniture will be reinstalled in its original place at Concorde in Paris.