As true watch collectors would surely vouch, any clock made by Thomas Tompion, the renowned 16th century British timepiece technician, merits a place in the all-time great league of classic chronometers. Favoured by British royalty from Charles II to Queen Anne, Tompion is credited as being among the first watchmakers to introduce precision technology to the industry. It’s no wonder then, that his clocks command astronomical prices when they go under the gavel.

The most recent such piece to pique the hunger of haute horologists was a particularly fine late-17th century specimen – an ebony-veneered quarter-repeating table-clock, which sold for nearly HK$2.6 million at a recent Bonhams London auction. Featuring a gilted-brass body, three separate dials and a mounted quarter-repeat system, the skills of the master watchmaker were evident in every detail. Proving its provenance beyond any doubt was a give-away engraving reading: “Thomas Tompion LONDINI Fecit”. Surely no forger would be smart enough to include such a detail.