On Nov. 30 Sotheby's London will auction "Exceptional Jewels and Precious Objects Formerly in the Collection of The Duchess Of Windsor"
The New York Times describes one lot : Another piece is a gold oval Cartier watch-cum-compass and sundial. One side of this inspired piece of boy-scout lunacy has a sundial with a flip-up, discreetly phallic, pink-gold gnomon and an inset compass. The other has the watch face and, beneath it, a message engraved in handwritten script: "No excuse for going in the wrong direction. Easter 1939." It's not clear what direction that might have been, but the next year, as the German Army invaded France, the Windsors fled Paris, first to Biarritz, then Spain, then Portugal, and finally to the Bahamas, where the former king was appointed governor; so the compass and sundial may have come in useful, after all. The catalog can be found here. The lot number is 13. http://tinyurl.com/2cna275 A photo of the sundial can be found here : http://www.twigsdigs.com/windsor/windsor.html Bob
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