Nine years ago, as part of the Helms/LA84 Museum Collection, we sold a pair of circa 1901-05 track spikes worn by decorated American sprinter Harry A. Hyman. The University of Pennsylvania and Ohio State alumnus, nicknamed the “Pennsylvania Flyer”, clocked 10 seconds in the 100-yard dash as an 18-year-old student at OSU in 1899 and went on to win dozens of collegiate and amateur races in the U.S. and abroad primarily in the 220 and 440-yard distances.

Offered here is an elegant and incredibly unique family heirloom kept in the Hyman family for multiple generations: Harry Hyman’s Swiss-made gold pocket watch fob linked with three gold first-place award medals from races he won between 1903 and 1905. The pocket watch is made of 14-karat gold and is an exquisite piece of antique jewelry from the early 20th century. Unbranded, it has a “14” and squirrel hallmark indicating Swiss-made (engraved on an inner pop-up case section). The face has a white enamel finish displaying Roman numerals and chronograph dials. The reverse is engraved with Hyman’s “HAH” initials in large script lettering. The winding mechanism on the stem makes the appropriate sound but does not activate the hands of the clock. The watch measures 50 mm in diameter and 16 mm thick and weighs 98 grams.

Attached to a loop chained to the watch is the smallest gold medal (25 mm,18-karat sold gold, crown hallmark), won in July 1905 at Manchester Athletic Club in England and engraved “220 Yds. Flat Hop 1st Won by H.A. Hyman”. The next 18-karat gold medal (29 mm, 18-karat sold gold, Dieges & Clust hallmark) is from a 1904 Columbia University Indoor Meet engraved “Penn-Amherst Relay H.A. Hyman”. The last and largest gold medal (33 mm, gold-plated silver) is engraved “220 Yards Dash H.A. Hyman” from the U. of Penn Athletic Association’s Inter-Department Championship Games on May 24, 1903. Fully stretched, the pocket watch fob is 9” in length and weighs 135 grams altogether. It remains in outstanding condition for being over a century old. Apparently, it was displayed in the Helms Museum in Los Angeles for decades. Although, unlike the cleats we sold in 2014, the Hyman family got it back from Helms. According to Wikipedia, Harry Hyman retired in Laguna Beach, CA and died in 1965.