Perhaps the most-hyped watch up for sale this auction season was the Rolex GMT-Master Reference 1675, worn by Marlon Brando in the film Apocalypse Now. On Tuesday night, it sold for $1,952,000 including buyer’s premium at Phillips’ Game Changers auction in New York.
We’ll leave it up to you as to whether that surpassed or fell short of expectations. I saw people expecting it to do a number close to Paul Newman’s Paul Newman Daytona, which sold for more than $17 million in 2017, all the way to people making predictions that Brando’s GMT might not break the $1 million threshold. It was always unfair to expect this GMT to achieve anything close to Paul Newman’s Paul Newman, a watch that literally defined a community and has a well-documented history of being worn by Mr. Newman. Meanwhile, the Brando GMT disappeared for many years after its appearance in Apocalypse Now, only to resurface a couple years ago when Brando’s daughter, Petra, reached out to Phillips. Brando gifted the watch to Petra, who eventually gave it to her husband, Russel, on their wedding night.
It was a slow bidding process, with bidders going back and forth in $10,000 and $5,000 increments after an opening bid of $250,000. In all, it took more than 20 minutes to auction off the watch.
The Brando GMT wasn’t the only celebrity watch that sold on Tuesday night: Jack Nicklaus’ Day-Date also sold for $1.22 million all in.
The pink-on-pink reference 1518 that sold for $2.3 million
I didn’t really know what to expect from this watch: there was a ton of hype around it and Phillips did a good job with its marketing campaign. But, the market for multi-million dollar watches is so thin to begin with and there seemed to be enough questions and general shoulder-shrugging about this watch that it was tough to know for sure what might happen. But, I will say that I expected the Brando GMT to be the most expensive lot of the auction, and it was not. Three watches, a pink gold Patek Phillipe Reference 1518, the Urwerk AMC, and a Patek Phillipe Reference 2499, all broke the $2 million threshold all in.
The top lots at Game Changers were almost impossible to compare: they’re all different and special in their own ways. The pink-on-pink Patek ref. 1518 perpetual calendar is one of 12 known to exist, while the Urwerk AMC is an amazing modern achievement in physics and horology (and one of three made). And of course, Brando’s GMT is the stuff of celebrity legend, worn by one of the greatest actors of all time in one of the greatest films of all time.
Below that, three Paul Newman Daytonas also performed well, showing that that market is still strong.
Three Paul Newman Daytonas sold for healthy six-figure sums at Phillips’ Game Changers auction.
Meanwhile, there were also a number of other interesting lots further down in the catalog:
A Phillipe Dufour Simplicity in platinum sold for $325,000, the exact same price as one went for last month at Phillips’ Geneva auction.
A Tudor Snowflake Reference 7021 sold for $17,500, a solid result for an excellent example of one of my favorite models to follow. The case looks extremely sharp in photos, and the bezel has “ghosted” to a faded blue. Blue Snowflakes (reference 7016, 7021, 9401 and 9411) are difficult to find in any condition, so it’s not too surprising that this did a big number.
The tonneau-shaped Patek Phillipe Reference 5950 split seconds chronograph that we featured in our preview sold for $275,000.
The stainless steel Lange 1 we featured in our preview sold for $343,500.
An “exotic” Universal Geneve Nina Rindt sold for $27,500. The Universal market continues to show strength.
The unique TAG Heuer Monaco “Piece d’Art” with the original calibre 11 movement sold for $81,250. Nice to see these historic piece get the love it deserves on its 50th anniversary.
Head to Phillips’ auction website to see the full list of results.