English socialite Jemima Khan has revealed that her high-profile relationship with a former boyfriend, thought to be Hugh Grant, came to an end at the same time as a watch he gave her.

Khan broke off with Grant in February 2007, more than two years after the actor gifted her with a silver and black watch, which she was rarely seen without.

The exquisite Italian Panerai matched Grant's own watch and was also one owned by Grant's previous girlfriend, Elizabeth Hurley.

Now, in an interview with Vogue magazine, Khan has admitted that she had taken her watch stopping as a "sign" that it was time to part ways with a boyfriend.

"I've even found myself waiting for 'a sign,'" the Telegraph quoted her, as telling the mag.

"The watch given to me by a boyfriend when we first met packed up at the point at which the relationship had clearly run its course.

"I took it as the clear signal I needed that our time was finally up, though of course I'd known that for months.

"Easier this, than to take responsibility for the decision myself," she added.

Though the confession might have referred to any of Khan's ex boyfriends, Grant was her most serious relationship since her nine-year marriage to Imran Khan ended in divorce in June 2004.

In the interview, Khan tells how Grant had given her the watch when they first started seeing each other.