The most important private collection of English watches to ever come to the market is to be offered at Sotheby’s London over the course of four sales, starting this month.

Entitled “The Celebration of the English Watch”, this landmark collection will provide a snapshot of British history through the pocket watch. It also brilliantly traces the evolution of watchmaking from the 17th Century to modern day and the supremacy of England at pivotal moments of horology history.

The English watchmakers represented read as a Who’s Who of British horological giants, including David Ramsay, Edward East, Thomas Tompion, John Ellicott, Thomas Mudge, John Arnold, George Margetts, The Vuillamy’s, Thomas Cummins, Victor Kullberg, Charles Frodsham through to the 20th century horological icon, George Daniels.

Each is world renowned for their ground-breaking advancements and for leaving their indelible mark on the history of British horology. Equally, extraordinary watches with exquisite decoration are found in the collection and pay tribute to the finest engravers, chasers, and enamellers working in England.

Put together over the past 20 years, this historic collection comprises 314 lots, estimated to fetch between £6 million and £9.5 million ($9 million and $14.27 million).

The first of the four auctions, to take place on December 15, will pay homage to David Ramsay and the First Clockmaker’s Court. Coinciding with the recent transfer of the Clockmakers' Company Museum collection to the Science Museum in London, the sale will be highlighted by works by 10 masters active in the first 20 years of the Clockmakers Company (1631-1651).

Commenting on the collection, Tim Bourne, Sotheby’s Worldwide head of watches and Daryn Schnipper, chairman of Sotheby’s Watch Division, said: “English horology is set apart by its brilliant makers and their individual stories - whether it be John Harrison’s unwavering resolve to determine longitude at sea, or George Daniels’ struggle to revolutionise the future of watchmaking. This landmark collection captures that spirit and encourages us to look at pocket watches in a new and exciting way. Timepieces like these are not only exceptional watches, they are pieces of history.”

The December sale will present a group of 97 pocket watches, including works and inventions by the best makers following the changes in style and design from the 16th through to the 20th century. Led by David Ramsay, the selection features eminent signatures of each era, such as Richard Bowen, Thomas Tompion, John Halsted, George Graham, John Ellicott, Alexander Cumming, James Cox, John Arnold, Barraud, Charles Frodsham and S. Smiths & Son.

The star lot of the sale is a Royal oval astronomical watch with an engraved portrait of King James I by David Ramsay. Considered one of the finest makers from the early 17th century, Ramsay was the first master of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers at its formation in 1632, as well as the chief clockmaker to the King. The engraving to the covers depicting the Royal Coat of Arms and miniature of King James I are of exceptional quality. A similar watch by Ramsay can be found on permanent loan in the Victorian & Albert Museum. Both watches were presumably made at around the same time by order of the King. Estimated price is: £150,000 - £250,000.

Highlights from the collection include:

RICHARD BOWEN: A rare and historically significant silver astronomical verge watch with engraving of Charles I based on a 17th century engraving by William Marshall, circa 1660. Estimated price: £60,000 - £80,000.

JOHN ARNOLD, LONDON: An extraordinary and important gold half quarter dumb repeating consular cased pocket chronometer of “the Best Kind”, a term Arnold reserved for his large chronometers. (1782). Estimated price: £125,000 - £200,000.

DANIEL QUARE, LONDON: An important gold two-train quarter striking and quarter repeating pair cased clock watch with regulator aperture. It is the only example of similar size, with quarter repeating and rack quarter striking from this or any earlier period to have survived (1712 -1714). Estimated price: £70,000 - £100,000.

ELLICOTT, LONDON: An extremely fine gold and enamel pair cased half-quarter repeating watch with scene “The Borghese Dancers” by George Michael Moser (1770). This watch magnificently combines the inventive genius of the great watchmaker Ellicott with the work of Moser, one of the most renowned artists and enamellers of the 18th century. Estimated price: £60,000 - £90,000.

Part II of the sale, titled “John Harrison’s Enduring Discovery”, will be held on July 7, 2016. It will include the John Harrison Portrait Watch by James Barton - an historically important yellow gold pair cased verge watch with a portrait of John Harrison attributed to George Michael Moser (1771/2). Harrison, the man who found Longitude, is immortalised in a watch made by his son-in-law Barton. The portrait executed en grisaille enamel is attributed to Moser. Estimated price: £200,000 - £400,000

The auction programme’s Part III is titled “The Genius of Thomas Tompion” and will run on September 20, 2016. It will have a yellow gold pair cased quarter repeating watch made in 1708. Regarded as the greatest English clockmaker, Tompion pioneered many timekeeping mechanisms. His inventions were the foundations upon which the 18th-century makers, such as George Graham, Thomas Mudge, John Harrison, Thomas Earnshaw, and John Arnold, were to build in their successful searches for accuracy, especially with respect to determining longitude at sea. Estimated value: £150,000 –£250,000

The last (Part IV) auction is titled “George Daniels, 20th Century Innovator” and will be held on December 15, 2016. The comprehensive nature of the collection culminates in watchmaking innovations that continued through the 19th and 20th centuries.

This collection of British horological masterpieces is completed by a one-minute spring-detent chronometer tourbillon watch by one of the greatest watchmakers of the 20th century, Dr George Daniels (made in 1970). Not only did Daniels develop the co-axial escapement, the biggest development in horology since Thomas Mudge’s invention of the lever escapement in 1754, but he also mastered the 30 or so trades necessary to construct a watch entirely by hand. His contribution to the world of the mechanical watch continues to inspire the art of the master watchmaker today. Estimated value: £150,000 – £250,000.

It will also include Charles Frodsham & Company’s fine yellow gold open-faced minute repeating split-seconds chronograph watch with one minute tourbillon and 60 minute register presented to William Gould Harding by J P Morgan (1902/3). Estimated price: £150,000 – £250,000.