Al Capone’s diamond pocket watch was the star of RR Auction’s Gangsters, Outlaws and Lawmen sale, which closed on June 26.
It realised $84,375, a significant increase on its $25,000 opening bid.
The watch features diamonds inlaid around the edge
The unusual, triangular timepiece was made by the Illinois Watch Company. The mechanism is housed in a gold case inlaid with diamonds.
Some years after Capone’s death the watch passed to his great-grandson Eric Griese, who explains: "Shortly after the passing of Albert Francis 'Sonny' Capone, his daughter, Barbara Prince, nee Capone, a resident of California, delivered the watch described below to me, along with other personal property that at one time was the personal property of my great grand father, Alphonse G. Capone.
“My great grandfather had given this material to my grandfather; my grandfather Albert Francis 'Sonny' Capone told his daughter Barbara Prince that this property was to be given to me following his death."
The sale also featured a snake head ring belonging to outlaw Bonnie Parker, which made $25,000.
It was found in a car she and Clyde Barrow had been riding in when they were caught in a police ambush on the outskirts of Sowers, Texas in November 1933.
They managed to escape by the skin of their teeth, but their luck would run out the following year.
The ring is thought to be a costume piece made by the Uncas jewellery company in the early 1930s.
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