The ‘Only Fools and Horses’ pocket watch which made Del and Rodney Trotter millionaires is being sold for £15,000 at auction.
The so-called Harrison Lesser Watch was sold for £6.2 million at Sotheby’s in the sitcom’s famous ‘Time on Our Hands’ Christmas special in 1996, much to the delight of market trader brothers Del – played by Sir David Jason – and Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst), and now in real life the timepiece is going up for sale at Aston’s Auctioneers in Dudley on September 20th.
Steve Kennedy, of Aston’s, is quoted by The Sun newspaper as saying: "There is a huge market for anything to do with ‘Only Fools and Horses’. People love the programme and such an iconic item is sure to create a huge buzz.
"We’ve given it an estimate of up to £15,000, but it could get well above that."
Perry Aghajanoff, president of the Only Fools and Horses Appreciation Society, has verified the watch – which is one of three which were made – and the special timepiece comes with a certificate of authenticity.
Steve added: "It’s in pristine condition and has been perfectly cared for by a true lover of the show."
‘Only Fools’ still holds the record for the largest audience for a British sitcom after 24.3 million tuned in to ‘Time on Our Hands’, the final episode of the 1996 festive trilogy, to see Del and Rodney scoop their fortune.
Throughout the show’s seven series – from 1981 to 1991 – Del was regularly encouraging his younger brother that "this time next year, we’ll be millionaires".
And they had Del’s wife Raquel Turner’s (Tessa Peake-Jones) dad to thank for coming across the Harrison Lesser Watch in the famous episode, and realising it might be worth something.
Del, who predicted they could earn £40,000 from the sale, fainted when the auctioneer opened up the bidding at £150,000. And when the bidding reached £4 million, Rodney also fainted.
However, the pair invested in the futures market and upon their return to our screens five years later, for Christmas special ‘If They Could See Us Now’, it was revealed they had lost their money and were bankrupt, but fortunately Del had bought their Nelson Mandela House flat so they were not left homeless.
Only Fools and Horses watch up for £15k auction
