Amelia Earhart, Sir Henry Segrave, Mr Selfridge, and a lost Patek Philippe worth Millions?

A short while ago a fellow Amelia Earhart researcher and fan, Jeffrey Pearce, reached out to me to discuss Amelia Earhart’s watch. We started chatting via email, mostly at first about the known Longines Chronograph, the watch Amelia Earhart wore when she completed her transatlantic crossing.

You can see and read about the Longines watch here

From the course of conversations between Jeffrey and myself, the topic of “which watch Amelia was wearing” when she disappeared, came up. Jeffrey Highlighted that in the book “Amelia Earhart, A Biography” by Doris Rich she Writes:

Amelia wore a watch given her by the Senior Selfridge when she was in England after her Atlantic flight in 1932. The watch had been given ‘to’ Dehane Segrave, champion outboard motorboat racer. When he was killed his widow gave it back to Selfridge. Amelia was wearing this watch wen she disappeared in 1937.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/685975.Amelia_Earhart

In exchange for the watch that belonged to Sir Henry O’Neal ‘Dehane’ Segrave, Amelia gave her “transatlantic” longines watch to Mr HG Selfridge, which is why that watch still exists today, and has now been to the Space Station.

Sir Henry O’Neal De Fane Segrave

Sir Henry Segrave had basically, a rock star legend status of the 1920’s, a pioneer, and set land and water speed records. He was friends with Mr HG Selfridge amongst others, and they were “The Rich and Famous”. No images I can find exist of the watch Mr Selfridge gave to Sir Henry, but I have reached out to the researchers at The National Motor Museum https://nationalmotormuseum.org.uk/tag/sir-henry-segrave/

To put into context the relationship between Mr Selfridge and Sir Henry Segrave, they drove the same cars, and Mr HG Selfridge took delivery of a “Saunders-Roe A.22 Segrave Meteor” plane, designed by Sir Henry Segrave in 1931, after Sir Henrys untimely death, whilst completing a water speed record on Friday 13th June, 1930 on Lake Windermere, Cumbria, United Kingdom, in the boat “Miss England II”

Sir Henry was so well thought of he had a Trophy named after him, which Amy Johnson was awarded…..

“after set a new record for a solo flight from London, England, to Cape Town, South Africa, flying a de Havilland DH.80 Puss Moth there in 4 days, 6 hours, 54 minutes, 14–18 November 1932. She broke the previous record which had been set by Jim Mollison. For this flight, she was awarded the Segrave Trophy of the Royal Automobile Club, for “the most outstanding demonstration of transport on land, sea or air.”

https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/segrave-trophy/

Amelia Earhart – The Brand Ambassador

When you look at images of Amelia Earhart, you soon realise after enough images, that as a watch brand ambassador she would be a headache for the brand, she always covered her sleeves, or wore her watch “driver style” (watch face inside the wrist) which of course makes total sense for a 1920’s / 1930’s pilot, ease of reading the dial whilst holding the controls.

So myself and Jeffrey started combing archives looking for any image of the watch Amelia wore from 1932 until her disappearance July 2nd 1937. Eventually I found and image which I bought from the image library as it showed her wearing the watch. When you zoomed the image in you could make out some features, shape, glass shape, rough size and slight detailing.

I was convinced that Amelia Earhart would only wear a chronograph, and was certain I could see a pusher above the crown, so started looking at through 1920’s and 1930’s Tonneau shaped watches, and finally, looking at the case dimensions I had convinced myself the closet match was a Tonneau shaped Patek Philippe Cushion shaped watch made for Henry Graves of America in 1928. Which had sold for $3.6 million and was classed as “possibly unique”

The price and scarcity of the watch did not cause me any doubt as these people we are referring to were national heroes, and let us be honest, every Patek is hand made to order in the 1920’s and 1930’s. So I reached out to Peter Reiss at the Patek Museum to ask if they had any details of a Patek made for the “Selfridges”, Harry Gordon Senior or Junior.

Peter came back to me and basically said, it would be nice if it was a Patek, but with the image it is all guess work.

Jeffrey hits gold

On friday night, 21st October 2022 Jeffrey starts sending me emails as he has found another image library, one email was entitled, “Is this the image you found”. I clicked the link and surely enough Jeffery had found the same image on a different site, that had a link to click for the high res version, and low and behold the zoom was much better, much much better, and would allow for a side by side comparison with the exemplar image of the Henry Grave collection watch.

Straight away you can see the similarities

• Brequet styled font
• 6/12 configuration sub dials, which is rare for this period
• Outline to the minute track
• Leaf hands
• Overall shape of the watch
• The Venus 170 6/12 movement was not invented when Sir Henry Segrave owned this watch

The only real difference to my watchmaker dyslexic eyes is the pusher situated above the crown, but bearing in mind the watch was made to presented to a world famous “master of speed” it does not surprise me at all to see this change in complication. to my eyes if you saw these watches together “as people” you would say “they certainly share the same parents!”

So could it really be….

That not only did we loose a great pioneer when Amelia Earhart disappeared July 2nd 1937, but we have also lost another piece of Horological excellence by the fine watchmakers at Patek Philippe. It seems to me a fitting tribute that a pioneer of female power would be wearing a fine historical piece by pioneers in Horology.

Of course we have to tie it all together and recap, if the owner of Selfridges, and the rich and famous, the people setting the land speed records and the pioneers were not wearing a Patek Philippes at the end of the 1920’s, who was wearing them? This in itself makes it feasible. We must also bear in mind that the watch was presented by HG Selfridge senior to Sir Henry Segrave, before making its way onto Amelias wrist, and she thought enough of the watch to give her Longines watch away after it had safely brought her across the Atlantic.

Of course [Edited 24.10.2022] I sent the new images to Peter at the Patek Museum for his perusal, , and unfortunately we will never know, according to Peter the image is not good enough to make an identification. I am sure that this article will cause conversation and debate, but I can live with that, is that not the point, as we go through our lives researching the histories of those that made their own history and inspired.

If I hear any updates, I will be sure to pass them along into this story.

Tuesday 8th November 2022: Update to the story.

I recently acquired a copy of a rare book, “Soaring Wings – A biography of Amelia Earhart” by George Putnam (Amelia Earharts husband)

In the book George refers to the watch and its story, and I will quote directly from the book.

She went to Selfridge’s, and while things for her needs were being assembled to show her, they invited her to sign her name with a diamond-pointed pencil on a plate-glass window that Harry Selfridge and his son Gordon have made a unique autograph album. Then the foundation of her friendship with Gorgon Selfridge was established — a friend-ship which led later to his giving her a watch having a most interesting story, and which she was wearing when she disappeared.

Gorgon had that watch made in the winter of 1928-29 for Dehane Segrave. Selfridge was in St. Moritz for the winter sports, and he ordered the instrument – a wrist stopwatch with a superlatively fine movement – in a mood of hero-worshipping admiration for Segrave, who had already broken many world’s records, and who broke them all with a charm and ease that were magnificent.

“Segrave wore it continuously after I gave it to him” Gordon says, “and had it on his wrist when he was killed on a record breaking motorboat attempt on Lake Windermere. It went down to the bottom of the lake with him, and Mrs Segrave gave it back when it was recovered, and I took to wearing it myself for a while.

“And then I met Amelia, and I had a growing feeling that a watch made under such circumstances, and for a person for whom I felt such an intense personal affection as I came also to feel for her, ought to be inherited by her who had obtained, just as naturally and with even more personal charm, my enormous admiration.

“As you remember, I gave it to her in America, and I think she liked it. She gave me in return the silver wrist watch she was wearing. It had a stop mechanism, and she told me it was the only watch that had, at the time, twice flown the Atlantic. I have it still. She was, of course, fond of it as being her own watch, and made me promise to give it back — in return for the gold one that I had given her —whenever she asked for it. I am awfully glad to know that she was wearing the one I gave her . . . “

page 112/113

We now know more details than we did before;

• The watch was made in Switzerland winter 1928/9
• The watch (as pictured) was in deed a chronograph stop watch
• It was made at the end of the same year that the as the Henry Grave Patek (pictured above)
• It was Gold cased (as was the Henry Grave)

Now i suppose the next stop is to see if any jewellers in St. Moritz keep really good records, like “since 1928” type records.

Any further updates, we will let you know.

Dan Hodge / Jeffrey Pearce

Update: 08 March 2024

I never expected in a million years to be writing this blog update, but today a friend contacted to me to make me aware of a watch coming up for for Auction, “Henry Segrave’s Patek Philippe”

Before we get into this, lets recap ……

Gordon Selfridge had a watch made for Henry Segrave (Seagrave) in Switzerland 1928 / 1929

When Henry Segrave Died his widow gave the watch back to Selfridge, and Selfridge then gave the watch to Amelia Earhart (Earhart gave Selfridge her Transatlantic crossing watch and it still exists today – the Longines )

Selfridge said after Earhart was lost “She was, of course, fond of it as being her own watch, and made me promise to give it back — in return for the gold one that I had given her —whenever she asked for it. I am awfully glad to know that she was wearing the one I gave her . . .”

George Putnam (Earharts Husband) Said (Soaring Wings first published 1939) about the watch “She went to Selfridge’s, and while things for her needs were being assembled to show her, they invited her to sign her name with a diamond-pointed pencil on a plate-glass window that Harry Selfridge and his son Gordon have made a unique autograph album. Then the foundation of her friendship with Gorgon Selfridge was established — a friend-ship which led later to his giving her a watch having a most interesting story, and which she was wearing when she disappeared.”

The watch is pictured here and it is obviously a single pusher Patek – especially now we have new images that have just surfaced from The Monaco Legend Group auction house on instagram.

And so today we have these images 

So now we have established the facts we have to ask a couple of questions 

1/. The people closest to Earhart believed she was wearing the Segrave Patek when she vanished – how is it up for auction now in 2024?

2/. If this is the same watch that Amelia was pictured wearing, and she had an arrangement to swap it back for her Longines one day with Selfridge, what was she wearing and navigating with, when she vanished?

I have it under very good authority from someone that phoned the auction house in March 2024 that the owner of the watch is unable to explain to his family where he got the watch from, which is such a great shame.

I would love to be able to answer this mystery one day, but I was correct overall, Amelia Earhart owned a Patek that was given to her by Mr Selfridge, that previously was once owned by Henry Segrave. The new mystery is about where has it been all these years now it appears to have turned up.

If anymore happens on this story I will update – as there is a lot of interest now this Patek is coming up for Auction

Update March 9th 2024

Last night i decided the best course of action was to go through every image / archive I could find from Amelia Earhart’s final trip, the list includes:

Oakland California May 20th 1937, Burbank California May 21st 1937, Tucson Arizona May 22nd 1937, New Orleans May 23rd 1937, Miami June 1st 1937, San Juan June 2nd 1937, Caripito Venezuela June 3rd 1937, Paramaribo Suriname June 4th 1937, Fortaleza Brazil June 6th 1937, Natal Brazil June 7th 1937, Saint Louis Senegal June 8th 1937, Dakar Senegal June 10th 1937, Goa Mali June 11th 1937, Ndjamena Chad June 12th 1937, El Fasher Sudan June 13th 1937, Khartoum Sudan June 13th 1937, Massawa Ethiopia June 14th 1937, Assab Ethiopia June 15th 1937, Karachi Pakistan June 17th 1937, Calcutta India June 18th 1937, Sittwe Myanmar June 19th 1937, Rangoon Myanmar June 20th 1937, Singapore Malaysia June 21st 1937, Bandoeng Java June 24th 1937, Soerabaja Java June 25th 1937, Bandoeng Java Indonesia June 27th 1937, Koepang Timor June 28th 1937, Port Darwin Australia June 29th 1937, and Lae Papua New Guinea July 2nd 1937.

It turns out wearing a watch driver style really limits someone being able to see what your wearing, and in the days of film photography not many images are captured, unlike today when you can not leave the house without a high definition analysis happening.

The best images came from Caripito Venezuela June 3rd 1937, and a watch that is not really distinguishable – but does not really look like the Patek Amelia had been imaged wearing and was given by Mr Selfridge.

Images available here

Lunch Earhart Venezuela https://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/digital/iiif/earhart/516/full/full/0/default.jpg

Camera Earhart Venezuela https://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/digital/iiif/earhart/526/full/full/0/default.jpg

I find it really amusing sitting here typing this out, it was October 2022 when Jeffery kicked this off when he contacted me to ask me “What watch was Amelia Earhart wearing when she vanished?” and after all this time and hours of communications and research, purchase of resources, I am right back at the beginning with the original question.

What watch, or whose watch, was Amelia Earhart wearing when she vanished?

How did the Patek end up resurfacing, where has it been, and how did those around Amelia Earhart not know she was not wearing it?

Without knowing who owns the Patek inscribed to Sir Henry it is probably impossible to trace back to find a connection between them and Amelia.

Maybe time will tell, i really do hope so.

I would like thank the following people, Jeffrey for all your enthusiasm, commitment and using your contacts to reach out the family and Purdue University, and all the time and passion you have.

Purdue University for their amazing archives and collections.

Peter Friess at the Patek Museum for engaging

Patrick Collins at the National Motor Museum Trust for all his help with Sir Henry Segrave

and last but by no means least Jose and Nick for picking up the story and helping.

Update 21st March 2024

The story is out, and in the background I have been working hard with Jeff to find out anything further

I can confirm that “no specific items” were left in a Last Will and Testament by George Putnam – I have seen this but can not share it.

I can confirm that it has been mentioned by Gore Vidal that his father Eugene Vidal had a relationship with Amelia Earhart – to the point where “she wore his underwear when flying” – I found a great blog on that story you can access that story here and listen to it It’s great listen to it which does make you wonder where the final watch she was wearing came from

[update March 22nd 2024] it appears the watch was restored at Patek in 2015, it is a shame that Peter at the Patek museum did not see it, or get pictures of it at the time, with the inscription on the back it would be a fairly memorable extremely rare watch, and helped the story along in 2022

And it sold at auction just now – April 20 2024 for €1,400,000