GENESEO, N.Y. – A rare, handsome men’s Longines wristwatch, originally purchased around the time of World War II and descended in the same Buffalo, N.Y., family ever since, sold for $50,600 at an Advertising, Scientific and Art Auction held May 31st by Cottone Auctions, in the firm’s gallery located at 120 Court Street in Geneseo. The watch was easily the auction’s top lot.

“I’m not sure if this was a new auction record for a men’s Longines watch, but if not I’m sure it came close,” remarked Matt Cottone of Cottone Auctions. The watch – a Model 13 ZN – was a stainless steel chronograph wristwatch, with two-toned silver dial. Features included a concentric stopwatch, second and minute counter, two-button start-and-stop reset and a stainless steel case.

“This auction was wedged in between two fine art sales, which are typically bigger events, but we were thrilled with the interest in what was a wide variety of merchandise in the many diverse categories,” Cottone said. “The Longines watch, especially, came as a real pleasant surprise. We assigned it a pre-sale estimate of $3,000-$5,000, but I guess we forgot to add another zero there.”

Around 200 people attended the auction in person, while another 1,000 registered to bid online, through LiveAuctioneers.com and Invaluable.com. Telephone and absentee (or left) bids also numbered “in the hundreds, combined,” Cottone estimated, and he said of the nearly 450 lots that came up for bid, “98 or 99 percent changed hands. That’s a real successful sell-through, I’d say.”

Following are additional highlights from the auction. All prices quoted include a 15 percent buyer’s premium.

The second top lot of the auction was a Chelsea “Wardroom” clock in good running order, made by the American Ship Building Co. (Cleveland, Oh.), 12 inches tall with a 2-inch dial. It went for $15,000. Also, a mid-20th century figural bronze clock on a marble base depicting the French leader Napoleon on horseback, 38 inches tall and 22 inches wide, changed hands for $3,450.

A set of 12 Royal Doulton hand-painted and relief gold leafed plates, each one 10 ½ inches in diameter and showing roses and vignettes, very visually striking, found a new owner For $8,050, while a German porcelain stein, made in the 19th century and depicting a wild boar with a pipe and hat, marked “Musterschutz” and standing 7 ½ inches in height, attracted a top bid of $2,875.

Lithographs, posters and broadsides all came up for bid. A Merchants Union Express Company lithograph (Major & Knapp, Broadway, N.Y.), measuring 25 inches by 19 inches, wowed the crowd for $6,500. Also, a very large Calhoun print lithograph titled Peck’s Bad Boy and showing people and a dog outside Schultz Grocery (Hartford), 6 feet 10 inches by 10 feet, brought $3,738.

A U.S. Department of the Treasury currency broadside, 23 ½ inches by 19 ½ inches, went for $4,700, while a vintage Soviet Union poster with the (translated) message, “We stand for peace and work for the cause of peace and we’re not afraid of danger and are ready to answer a blow for a blow to the starters of war” (etc.), 27 ¼ inches by 40 ¼ inches, knocked down at $4,000.

Original oil paintings proved to be a huge hit with bidders. A 24 inch by 24 inch oil on canvas by Alexander Levy (Am., 1881-1947), signed lower left and titled Bringing Home the Logs, fetched $6,000; and an autumnal landscape painting by another American artist, Chauncey Foster Ryder (1868-1949), an oil on paperboard measuring 12 inches by 16 inches, artist signed, made $4,025.

An oil on canvas painting of two women by the British artist Walter Bonner Gash (1869-1928), signed lower right and dated (1909), measuring 18 inches by 24 inches, breezed to $3,450; and an oil on paperboard work by the American painter Thomas John Mitchell (N.Y., 1875-1940), titled Sunset and Stream, signed lower left and dated (1927) on the reverse side, rose to $2,990.

A 19th century brass telescope with a mahogany tripod by T. Cook & Sons (York and London, England), 5 feet 7 inches in length and 4 ½ inches in diameter, finished at $4,140; and a Victor V phonograph with a fluted oak horn and the original finish, patented Sept. 1904, brought $3,335.

Rounding out just some of the day’s top lots, a complete set of gold Indian quarter eagles, graded and raw and including the rare 1911-D example, soared to $7,130; and a set of 13 sterling silver agricultural medals from the 19th century, totaling 21.1 troy ounces of silver, gaveled for $4,198.

Cottone Auctions’ next big auction will be a Fine Art Sale in late September (times and dates to be announced; watch the website at www.cottoneauctions.com ). Featured will be Tiffany lamps, sculptures, glass, paintings, silver, decorative accessories and more. As with the May 31auction, online bidding for the event will be provided by both LiveAuctioneers.com and Invaluable.com.

Cottone Auctions is always seeking quality consignments for future sales. The firm is especially interested in fine artworks, Oriental rugs, silver, Tiffany, art glass, art pottery, folk art, Native American, old clocks and stoneware. To consign an item, an estate or a whole collection, you may call them at (585) 243-3100; or, you can send them an e-mail at info@cottoneauctions.com.

To learn more about Cottone Auctions and the firm’s calendar of upcoming events, please log on to www.cottoneauctions.com.

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