A uncommon watch given to John Lennon by his spouse Yoko Ono and which was stolen after his dying doesn’t belong to an Italian man who purchased it from an public sale home years later, a Swiss court docket dominated on Thursday, paving the best way for its return to Ono.
The Patek Philippe watch, with an estimated worth of $4.51 million, was a fortieth birthday present to the previous Beatle from Japanese artist Ono in 1980, simply two months earlier than his assassination in New York.
The watch bears the inscription “(JUST LIKE) STARTING OVER LOVE YOKO 10·9·1980 N.Y.C,” on the again of its 18-carat gold face, a line from a tune they composed collectively, the court docket assertion mentioned.
The attraction ruling shared with reporters by the Federal Tribunal on Thursday confirms two prior judgments by Geneva courts in 2022 and 2023.
It concludes a years-long authorized battle between Yoko Ono and an Italian man residing in China who claimed possession of the watch and was the appellant on this case.
Like all of the names of the events concerned, his identify is given in code type within the Swiss authorized paperwork, with solely a few of the identities potential to find out.
It was not potential for Reuters to contact his lawyer since their id can be censored.
Court docket paperwork present the watch modified fingers and international locations a number of occasions after being taken by Ono’s Turkish chauffeur in 2006.
He claimed he had Ono’s consent to take the watch.
As soon as in Turkey, the watch modified fingers once more in 2010 earlier than being offered to a German public sale home who offered it to the Italian nationwide residing in China.
Ono solely found the watch had been stolen in 2014 after a Geneva-based firm, commissioned by the Italian to appraise its worth, tipped off her lawyer.
The watch is at the moment being held for safekeeping in Geneva by the lawyer of the appellant, Swiss court docket paperwork present, and it was not instantly clear when or if it might be returned.
