A “unique” pocket watch belonging to Charles Dickens is expected to fetch thousands when it goes on sale at auction later this month.
The engraved watch belonging to the celebrated Victorian author could be sold at auction for as much as £4,000 when it goes under the hammer.
Auctioneers in Chichester say it is “unprecedented” in nature and is of “national importance” as a piece of Dickensian memorabilia.
The ornate timepiece is engraved with the Oliver Twist author’s initials and an early pseudonym that he used.
It will be sold with a brass-bound walnut ebonised desk gifted to Dickens by his favourite daughter, Catherine.
Both items are up for sale for what is believed to be the first time and come from descendants of the author's family.
Barnaby Chiari, a consultant at Stride & Son Auctioneers in Chichester, said: "Both items are of national importance.
"The watch would appear to be unprecedented in terms of historical Dickens memorabilia, both as a talisman of the author’s early literary career, and a unique object, the like of which we can find no comparison.
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"Both lots have come from a deceased estate, originating from the Portsmouth area."
Dickens' William IV gilt metal watch was gifted to him at the close of the first year of his editorship of the literary magazine Bentley's Miscellany.
The rear of the case is engraved: Dearest "Boz" editor Bentleys Miscellany Dec.1836, with the initials 'CD' to the left and right of the centre.
Boz was a pseudonym used by Dickens in some of his early writings.
Charles Dickens has links to Sussex and across the south coast. A blue plaque honouring the author was unveiled at the Holiday Inn in Brighton in 2012 to mark the site of The Bedford Hotel, where he regularly stayed.
The author was an acclaimed social critic of Victorian England in works such as David Copperfield, Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol.
The items will go up for sale together on Wednesday, March 6 at 11am.
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