A watch worn by an adventurer who made the most of every second of his life is set for auction.
Coming up in the June 30 Fine Art Auction is a circa 1970 Heuer Autavia Blue Boy watch, a make associated with men and machines. It’s guided at £5,000-£6,000 but thanks to its back story bids could soar higher.
It graced the wrist of the late Tim Ridgway, a man who filled his life with adventure from start to finish. He was a petrol-head who loved cars, speed boats, planes and helicopters. He attempted world-speed records and became acquainted with stars such as Noel Edmonds and wealthy businessmen who liked transport in all its forms as much as he did.
And though Tim’s life was cruelly cut short in 1983 when he was only 42, his watch survives to remind us of a man who captured the spirit of adventure.
He left school early and joined the Royal Navy in the 1950s as an aircraft mechanic. Soon he was crewing helicopters and saw action in Borneo and the Torrey Canyon disaster, one of the world’s most serious oil spills.
It was during his Navy years, prior to his departure in 1969/70, that he acquired the Heuer Autavia watch. It suited his character as he had a passion for machines. Karting was a particular obsession earning him boxes of trophies. Throughout this time his family remember him wearing the Autavia. It was well loved and well travelled.
In the Navy, he excelled in SAR (Search and Rescue) operations, one of his accolades being the creation of an emergency rapid response kit which the Navy adopted as standard issue equipment, dubbing it ‘The Ridgway Pack’. In 1969 he participated in a Navy attempt to break the London to New York speed record – Post Office Tower to Empire State Building – an experience which spurred him onto further record attempts.
Having learnt to water ski in the Navy, when his two sons were small he decided to purchase a water ski school in Spain’s Costa Blanca. He drove his family there in a Mark 10 Jag, the latest in a procession of classic cars which included Rileys, Austin Healeys and Triumphs. A canary-yellow Porsche 911 Targa and an obscure car called a Piper followed.
He drove his sons to their Spanish schools in this multitude of vehicles, not to mention the Lambretta and Vespa scooter and a Seat 600 painted in the colours of the British flag. Tim’s time in Spain also involved owning a plethora of speed boats and teaching his sons to water ski.
The family returned to the UK in 1976 and Tim re-entered the world of aviation, initially flying the iconic Bell 47, in which ABBA, clients-to-be of his, were memorably photographed for the cover of their ‘Arrival’ album, as well as Jet Rangers and an beautiful Agusta 109. He very coolly collected son Nathan after he’d completed his fighter pilot aptitude tests, aged 16, in 1982.
Tim’s passion for boats remained buoyant and he became involved in offshore powerboating. He got to know leading boat designer Don Shead who in 1981/2 helped him design a ground-breaking boat for the Blue Riband speed record attempt which he organised. Unfortunately it had to be postponed due to the Falklands war but his efforts provided a foundation for later attempts, including Richard Branson’s transatlantic record attempts in 1985 and 1986.
Tim’s aviation acquaintances also included David Essex, a keen fixed wing aviator, and the aforementioned Noel Edmonds who had a Squirrel helicopter. In 1983 Tim organised and made a televised attempt at the London-Paris speed record attempt with Noel. It was unsuccessful but earned good ratings for Noel’s Late Late Breakfast Show.
The London-Paris attempt involved Tim speeding off on the back of stunt-jumper Eddy Kidd’s high-powered scrambler bike, from Marble Arch to Battersea Heliport, where he leapt into an Agusta 109 helicopter bound for Biggin Hill. From there, a private Hawker Hunter fighter jet flew him fast and low to Le Bourget airport outside Paris. A Gazelle helicopter then took him to Issy heliport, from where a hair-raising ride around the Périphérique to the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the Champs Elysées whisked him to the finish line.
A few months later a private jet aircraft crash in the sea, just off Stornoway on the Outer Hebridean Scottish island of Lewis, in December 1983, proved fatal for Tim and nine others on board. Tim was not wearing his Autavia watch, a small blessing in that his body was not recovered from the sea for eight months.
In Hansons’ May sales a 1970 Heuer Autavia Chronograph watch awarded to privateer rally driver Doug Harris for finishing the 16,000-mile London to Mexico World Cup Rally in 1970 made £9,500. In addition, an accompanying engraved silver coffee pot trophy was contested to £2,000, smashing its £500-£800 estimate.
We have high hopes for Tim’s watch too.
Entries are invited for monthly watch and jewellery sales. To organise a free valuation email Helen Smith: [email protected] or call 01283 733988.
