Sir Roger Bannister's Four-Minute-Mile Watch Sells For $31,000 At Auction

May 21, 2015

One of the stopwatches used to time Sir Roger Bannister's record-breaking four-minute mile sold at auction for a cool 20,000 (approximately $31,000) in London on Monday. The silver Swiss chronometer was made by Nero Lemania, and features an outer second track for 30-seconds and a subsidiary dial with constant seconds and 30-minute register.The race took place on May 6th, 1954, at an athletics meet in Oxford. Sir Roger, along with five other participants, took to the track where 3,000 spectators watched history unfold. The chronometer was used by timekeeper W.K. Burfitt, who captured the final time of 3 minutes and 58 seconds.The watch was listed by sports memorabilia specialist Graham Budd Auctions and was estimated for 5,000-8,000. However, it far exceeded its original expectations and went to an anonymous buyer.More information on the auction can be found here.