A 1956 Rolex wristwatch from the collection of former Marsden Pt refinery chief Sierd Bouma has paid a big dividend for his family.
Parnell auction house Webb's says $61,000 fetched by the timepiece at the weekend was the highest price offered for any vintage wristwatch to have gone under the hammer in New Zealand.
It sold for almost twice as much as its top price estimate, on a winning bid placed by phone from the United States in an auction of more than 360 watches, carriage clocks and marine chronometers which raised half a million dollars.
Another item among many to have fetched well over their estimates in Saturday's auction was a 19th century cobalt-blue pocket watch.