Watch this, Bernie Madoff

No real mystery here, but there is a crime connection: As Bloomberg News reports, Bernard Madoff’s Rolex “Prisoner of War" watch will be auctioned today in New York. "The name has nothing to do with Madoff’s current status as inmate No. 61727- 054 at Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina.

"The 18-carat gold chronograph, model 3525, gained its moniker because Rolex offered similar timepieces to prisoners of war in Germany during World War II. It is one of 27 Swiss-made watches that the U.S. Marshals Service plans to sell as it seeks to recover assets for Madoff’s victims.

"The sale will do little to ease the anger in Geneva, where clients of financial institutions, including Union Bancaire Privee, Banque Benedict Hentsch & Cie. and Notz, Stucki & Cie., lost about $7 billion on Madoff investments.

“'It won’t change anything,' said André Polony, owner of the Piguet jewelry and watch store in Nyon, 17 miles northeast of Geneva, which sells Swiss brands, including Chopard, Baume & Mercier and Oris. 'It’s not like the money will make its way back to Switzerland.'"

Madoff’s watch collection included 17 Rolexes, seven Cartiers and timepieces from Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Franck Muller, all of which are made by companies based in or near Geneva. The prisoner watch is valued at $75,000 to $87,500, according to Gaston & Sheehan Auctioneers, which is running the sale at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers in Manhattan.

The Rolex POW up for sale, as watch historian Alan Downing says, was one of several sent by the company to men incarcerated in Prisoner of War camps like Stalag Luft III (located at Sagan, 100 miles southeast of Berlin, at present Poland). "This camp is probably the most famous of all Prisoner of War Camps, due to it being the scene of the Great Escape of March 1944 and the subsequent making of the 1962 film of the same name."

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UPDATE

Madoff's Rolex sold for $65,000 — $15,000 less than expected.