Haven (1997)

John R. Maxim's thriller was first published in Great Britain by Piatkus in 1997. It opens in Abu Shatt, a village in Egypt, where Gamal Bandari has his dead brother Avram's widow, Leyna, stoned to death on videotape, because Avram's will left everything to her and their daughter. Aisha, the daughter, is now the sole heir, and Bandari's men are sent to find her. (Open Library)

Watches

Rolex watch: After the stoning, Mahfouz, the go-between who arranged it with the village sheik, promises Bandari to make the villagers speak of it better than it was, and Bandari, glumly, pays him with the Rolex from his wrist. Later Mahfouz looks at it with longing and promises it to Faisal once Faisal takes him to New York, privately sure it is worth fifty dollars, not the twenty Cyril Pratt offered, and planning to buy Faisal a ten-dollar twin on Canal Street (pp. 101 to 102). Among dead men at a cabin, Martin Kessler notices one in cheap clothes wearing a Rolex, pockets it and throws it away (pp. 144, 161); dredged from the marsh, it shows the engraved name of Gamal Bandari (p. 240). The maker is named; the model is not.

Source text: Bandari, glumly, took the Rolex from his wrist and offered it to Mahfouz. Mahfouz made a show of speechless surprise as he clutched the watch to his heart. (John R. Maxim, Haven, scan cataloged as Piatkus, 1998 (copyright 1997; first published in Great Britain by Piatkus in 1997), p. 14; Internet Archive scan OCR)