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Babe Ruth’s 1923 World Series gold watch sold for $717K

A 14-carat gold watch presented to Babe Ruth for helping the Yankees win the 1923 World Series sold at auction in Manhattan on Saturday for $717,000.

Heritage Auctions — which called the timepiece “The most important baseball artifact in existence!” — wouldn’t disclose the name of the new owner, who bid by phone.

Many who attended the auction, held at the Ukrainian Institute on the Upper West Side, came just to ogle the historic ticker.

“This is so exciting. There’s so much energy because this is such a unique piece,” said John Wioland, 41.

“For some, Babe Ruth is a hero,” explained another attendee, former Yankees conditioning coach Jeff Margold, 59.

The Bambino was on his deathbed in 1948 when he presented the watch to a pal, boxing promoter Charles Schwefel, whose wife gave it to a nephew, Lewis Fern, who had caddied for Ruth at the St. Albans Golf Club in Queens.

In 1988, Fern sold it to a collector who the company also won’t identify.