TIMEPIECES were the lots to 'watch' at a Cotswolds auction, with three in the top 12 sellers.

An 18 carat gold cased pocket watch by George Edward & Sons of London made the second highest lot price of the day, when it went under the hammer at Moore Allen & Innocent on Friday, August 10.

The case was set with scrolling foliate decoration and an anchor, and an anchor was also engraved on the back along with the motto felicior quo certior – 'the surer the happier'.

Felicior quo certior is the motto of the Ormiston family, who had strong maritime and East India Company connections. The motto and the anchor might well have alluded to the provenance of the timepiece.

A little later, a nine carat gold pocket watch housed on a nine carat gold strap by Pleasance & Harper of Bristol achieved £500, and a A Rotherhams London nine carat gold cased half hunter pocket watch sold for £440.

Royal watchers, meanwhile, were delighted by a collection of Royal family Christmas presents given to staff.

The collection included a scented candle and some Halycon Days pill boxes, the lids decorated with painted scenes.

Some of the gifts were still wrapped.

Auctioneers had been looking for bids of around £100 to £150 for the lot, but collectors of royal memorabilia pushed that total to £650.

There were also some good results in the furniture section, where a pair of modern sofas made £1,000 – the top price of the day.

A circa 1900 buttoned red leather upholstered Chesterfield sofa, meanwhile, made £620, double its upper estimate.

An oak refectory style dining table in the Elizabethan manner sold for £580, and a set of four yew 19th century Thames Valley kitchen chairs of gothic form made £580.

Standing at 50cm tall, bronze copy of The Borghese Gladiator by Agasias of Ephesus achieved £620.

The life-size marble original, which now stands in the Louvre Museum in Paris, was sculpted in 100 BC.

But even older than that was a fossilised mosasaur jaw with five teeth.

Once part of a fearsome marine reptile which ruled the oceans 50 million years ago, the lot achieved £400.

The next sale at Moore Allen & Innocent will be held on Friday, August 31.

An online catalogue can be viewed at mooreallen.co.uk