Finding its way home

A novelty auction buy turned out to be a potential Lancia works-related gem

- Mark McArthur-Christie

A CERTAIN WELL-KNOWN online auction site (other well-known auction sites are available) can feel a little like the horological equivalent of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. So many appealing little faces, so many tugs on the heartstrings to pluck one from the pack and offer it a good home. For those afflicted with a love of cars as well as watches, it's doubly dangerous. Add the uniquely obsessive desire for Italian machinery and you're almost certain to be making space in the watchbox for a new arrival.

This is what happened to Mark Webb when he spotted a slightly tired-looking double-register chronograph looking back at him from his screen. As a nailed-on Lancista, he'd seen a couple of things everyone else had missed. While almost anyone would recognise a Heuer chronograph, Pronto is hardly a well-known maker. And unless you smell faintly of