Around this time of the year charitable organisation like Oxfam and War on Want launch appeals for funds to deal with world hunger. Alarming tales about families trying to exist on the pittance of a couple of dollars a day are widely reported. However In contrast there was a gathering in a Geneva lakeside hotel of extremely rich individuals attending an auction that lasted for a very exciting 15 minutes. 'A gold pocket watch made by Patek Philippe for a New York banker in the 1930s fetched 23.2m Swiss francs (£15m) at auction on Tuesday, smashing the record for a timepiece it previously set 15 years ago, Sotheby's said. Henry Graves commissioned the famed Swiss watchmaker to produce the world's most complicated watch and surpass one made for James Packard, the American automobile manufacturer.' (Guardian, 11 November) Very modestly, the seller and buyer chose to remain anonymous . RD
The Glasgow & Edinburgh Branches Blog. Towards a better understanding of the world, in order to change it.
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