Tragic diver's watches to go up for sale

Watches and other memorabilia from the estate of a world famous deep-sea diver from Staffordshire will go under the hammer.

The items offer a fascinating insight into the world of Walsall-born Carl Spencer. Mr Spencer, who always insisted he was "just a plumber from Cannock", was even invited by film director James Cameron to explore the wreckage of the Titanic in 2003.

The 37-year-old died while exploring the Titanic's sister ship in the Aegean Sea near Greece in 2009.

Now, some of his watches as well as memorabilia items from some of the wreckages he explored will go up for auction on January 23 with Fellows Auctioneers.

Stephen Whittaker, managing director at Fellows Auctioneers, said: "Carl Spencer was a world famous local diver and this collection shows some of the remarkable dives that he took part in."

Mr Spencer's Rolex sea dweller will go under the hammer with an estimate of £3,000, alongside two limited edition Doxa diving watches, with estimates of £1,000 to £1,500, also belonging to the deep-sea wreck diver.

An unframed coloured print of the Titanic signed in ink by the film director James Cameron and a Mintons' blue and white transfer plate recovered from the wreck of R.M.S Carpathia is also for sale.

Mr Spencer was originally born in Bloxwich and was known in diving circles throughout the world.

During the day, he worked as a heating and air conditioning plumber but his passion for diving took him to some of the deepest reaches of the sea.

In 2000, he joined the Bluebird project to locate and recover the body of the world water-speed record holder Donald Campbell from Coniston Water. Three years later, James Cameron invited him to join the team to dive the wreck of the Titanic.