The David Read Collection
22nd April 2026
David Read (1934-2025)
Gardiner Houlgate are privileged to announce the private collection from the estate of the late David Read. To include some of his rare and unique electrical timepieces, marine chronometers, railway watches, Military watches and much more. The collection will be offered over several auctions during 2026 with the first sales to be held on the 19th-21st May 2026.
Horology became his primary interest from around the 1980s, increasing in importance to him until it reached the point where it defined him. He had a stand at the Portobello market every Saturday for 30 years with his friend Maurice. He would arrive every Saturday morning before 7am to meet his market chums for breakfast at the café Lisboa on the Golbourne Road before heading to his stall for the morning.
He had a sign at the stand that read No Rolexes Tolerated, which wasn’t so much a statement against Rolex, but rather a notice to the kind of potential purchaser who was interested in brands and not really into the watches for reasons of design, engineering and beauty. He would normally persuade people they didn’t actually want to buy what they were looking at, although he did occasionally actually sell something.
He cared about watches that interested him for technical and historical reasons. He was particularly interested in the period of intermediate technology, as it is known, after small pill batteries had been commoditised, but before quartz had been successfully used in watches.
His key knowledge probably ended up being on electric clocks and watches, becoming an accomplished electrical engineer, drawing on his knowledge from Elliot Automation and his natural autodidact sensibilities.
The horological obsession only increased with retirement, at which point he became a full-time research and consultant horologist. As a key member of the Electrical Division of the Antiquarian Horological Society (AHS), his opinion was always sought on how something might work or the originality of an item. This judgement was underpinned by a remarkably dextrous and comprehensive workshop practice, rare in its combination of high-level mechanical skill and deep electrical knowledge. He was as at home re-pivoting a wheel as repairing the corroded circuit tracks in an early quartz watch. His own collection comprised a large range of often rare or near-unique items, frequently of high quality, or designed for a special and unusual purpose.
He was also a valued writer and contributed many articles to the AHS, the Horological Journal, the IWCC (the Institute of Watch and Clock Collectors) and other horological publications. He was at the top of his field in electric clocks and watches and regularly gave lectures around the country for the AHS, the Royal Astronomical Society, at the National Maritime Museum, and elsewhere.
David died peacefully at home on 15 November 2025, aged ninety-one.
For further details of the collection please contact David Hare
Telephone - 01225 812912
Email - david.hare@gardinerhoulgate.co.uk