A British auction house is selling a remarkable £275,000 collection of Elvis Presley memorabilia including a gold watch he wore on stage at the very start of his career.
The items, which also include a pair of his leather boots, a diamond and gold ring, cufflinks and early recording contracts, are being sold in the same week the new blockbuster movie Elvis is released.
Many of the lots date to around 1956, the piviotal year in Elvis' fledgling career when he was propelled to stardom. The star lot is the 14 carat gold-filled Lord Elgin timepiece that was seen on his wrist during several stage and TV shows.
One of these was for his very first national TV appearance, The Dorsey Brothers 'Stage Show', in January 1956. 'The King' was also seen wearing the watch when he signed his first music contract three days later.
In April 1956, while sitting by the pool at the New Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, a jeweller approached Elvis and gave him a spectacular looking watch.
At that moment the star noticed his guitarist Scotty Moore was not wearing a watch so he gave him the Elgin timepiece. The watch has been described by Elvis' life-long friend Jimmy Velvet as 'one of the grandest pieces Elvis ever owned due to the pivotal moment of his career'.
It is now being sold by a British-based collector of Elvis memorabilia at Henry Aldridge & Son Auctioneers of Devizes, Wilts, for £150,000.
A rare and historical contract the Hound Dog singer signed in March 1956 to appear on the famous Milton Berle TV show in April 1956 is also in the auction for £32,000.
The document shows Elvis was paid $3,500 (£2,800) for the guest appearance and had to pay his three musicians out of the fee. He wowed millions of TV viewers with his songs Shake Rattle and Roll, Heartbreak Hotel and Blue Suede Shoes.
A letter dated February 23, 1956, to Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker who is played by Tom Hanks in the forthcoming biopic, shows how the rising star was still relatively unknown. It related to a draft advert for Elvis due to go in Billboard and Variety magazines but had his name misspelt.
One of the most fascinating items in the sale is Elvis' own copy of the spiritual book Leaves of Gold. The deeply-religious star personally notated in the margins and underlined many of the passages that clearly inspired him. He gifted it to his then girlfriend Sheila Ryan and inscribed and signed the inside page for her. The book is valued at £25,000.
After he shot to fame and became extremely rich Elvis was known to be incredibly generous to those people around him. The sale contains items of jewellery and clothing that he gave away, including a pair of white leather boots he wore on stage during his first concerts at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. He gave the size 13 boots to his friend and stage director Charlie Hodge. They are now worth £25,000.
He also gave Hodge a microphone with his name engraved on that he used for rehearsals and live performances. It is valued at £14,000.
Elvis gave his hairdresser Homer 'Gil' Gilleland a pair of his gold cufflinks monogrammed with the initial 'E'. They are estimated to sell for £3,000. The lots in the sale were once kept in the Elvis Presley Museum at Graceland that opened in 1978, the year after his death. They belong to a British-based collector who has acquired them over the years.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: "The reason he is selling these items now is to coincide with the release of the movie Elvis. What makes a lot of these items special is that they relate to this genesis period in Elvis' career when he was on the verge of stardom.
"For example, the Lord Elgin watch was a nice watch but it wasn't a Rolex or a Patek. The story behind him giving it away is just fabulous. You can almost picture him sat around a hotel swimming pool and leaning over the table to give it to his guitarist because he noticed he didn't have one.
"Elvis was a very generous man and he gave away so many things. In my opinion, the Leaves of Gold book is arguably the most fascinating item in the sale. He underlined between 15 and 20 quotes that resonated with his own thoughts and beliefs. It does show a much deeper side to him."
The sale takes place on Saturday.
