A rare Rolex watch bought at a car boot sale has sold for £46,000 ($65,339), after it was found to be a rare variant from the second world war.

It was auctioned by Wright Marshall in Cheshire on March 21.

It was originally bought for just £10 ($14) by the consignor's father and was expected to sell for around £500.

The watch was made between 1941 and 1943

It was later identified as a Rolex 17 Rubis Panerai 3636, produced in a limited run of 618 for the Italian navy during world war two.

Niall Williams, a spokesman for the auction house, told the Daily Mail: "It came to us on a valuation day by a chap with it in his pocket. The wind-up mechanism didn't work properly and so wasn't in perfect condition…

"When I told the vendor afterwards it sold for £46,000 he thought I had said £4,000 to £6,000 and I had to repeat it three times before he believed me."

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