SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – After more than a century of care and safekeeping in the same family, a small collection of rare, early-20th-century World Series Championship jewelry is headed for the auction block. Grey Flannel Auctions will present the heirloom jewelry collection as the featured highlight of its online and phone auction that closes for bids on December 19.

The pieces were awarded to William Lawrence “Larry” Gardner (1886-1976), a third baseman and four-time World Series champion who played for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Athletics, and Cleveland Indians. His Major League Baseball career began in 1908 and concluded in 1924.

The jewelry consigned to the auction includes Larry Gardner’s 1912 Boston Red Sox player’s Championship watch fob, his 1916 Red Sox Championship pocket watch, and his Cleveland Indians 1920 World Series Championship player’s pin, which is the only known example to enter the marketplace.

“This is an extremely important selection of early championship jewelry,” said Grey Flannel Auctions spokesman Michael Russek. “Because the pieces have come to auction directly from the Gardner family, they have impeccable provenance and authenticity, which is of prime importance to collectors at the high end, just as it is to every level of buyer.”

Gardner, who attended the University of Vermont and played on the school’s baseball team for three years, was inducted into Vermont’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1969. After his retirement, he returned to the University of Vermont as a baseball coach and athletic director, serving from 1929 to 1951.

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