Wife Yoko Ono is rightful owner of John Lennon's stolen watch: Swiss court

A rare watch given to English singer-songwriter John Lennon by his wife Yoko Ono and which was stolen after his death does not belong to an Italian man who bought it from an auction house years later, a Swiss court ruled on Nov 14, paving the way for its return to Ono.

The Patek Philippe watch, with an estimated value of four million Swiss francs (S$6 million), was a 40th birthday gift to the former Beatle from Japanese artist Ono in 1980, just two months before his assassination in New York.

The watch bears the inscription, "(Just like) starting over love Yoko 10.9.1980 N.Y.C", on the back of its 18-karat gold face, a line from a song they composed together, the court statement said.