The auction season, like every year has come to an end. We were in Geneva for a full report that you will soon see on our Youtube channel. In the meantime, we want to talk about one of the most shocking results of this year’s weekend.
In fact, after making its first appearance in 2019, Marlon Brando’s Rolex GMT made a record amount of 4,582,500 CHF, corresponding to about 4.77 Million Euros.
This is the particular Rolex GMT Master that belonged to American actor Marlon Brando and was worn for one of the most famous and celebrated films of all time, namely Apocalypse Now.
Sold for the first time in 2019 by international auction house Phillips, for a record amount (at the time) of USD 1,952,000.
Marlon Brando’s Rolex GMT
Nowadays, in a world increasingly full of fascinating watches that have been handed down to us from the past and that occasionally appear on the market, that extra bit of beauty is given, without a doubt, by the history that the individual timepiece carries with it. Add to that the fact that it has been owned by a famous person, and you’ve got it… there you have it-the perfect ingredients to make a watch highly sought after by collectors.
And this is precisely the case with the watch we are talking about today, namely, a Rolex GMT Master that, at first glance, may appear to be “one of many.” However, what primarily distinguishes it from the “masses” is the fact that it was owned and worn by the famous actor Marlon Brando in one of the most beautiful and famous films ever.
In Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 film Apocalypse Now, in fact, the famous American actor, in the role of Colonel Kurtz, had on his wrist a Rolex GMT Master that was completely singular from an aesthetic point of view. It is a specimen of the crowned house, with reference 1675 and Mark IV dial, completely personalized by the actor himself who wanted to make it unique and unmistakable from all other models.
Indeed, looking at the watch, one can see that the iconic GMT bezel, above which a second time zone can be read, has been removed but not accidentally, but for a very specific reason. To shoot the film Apocalypse Now, Marlon Brando was asked to remove the watch as it would have stood out too much.
To obviate this request, which the actor disagreed with, he decided to remove the most distinguishing feature of the watch in question, namely the bezel, despite the fact that he was allowed to wear it during filming by the directors after the actor’s following statement:
“If they look at my watch, then I’m not doing my job as an actor.”
Further distinguishing and personalizing feature of the watch is the actor’s signature personally hand-engraved on the watch back. Moreover, unlike a traditional 1675 of the time, we do not find the presence of a steel bracelet but of a rubber strap that turns out to be the same one with which it was received by Petra Brando Fischer, Marlon’s daughter, in 1995, as well as being the type of strap used during the filming of the iconic movie.
Having now called Marlon Brando’s daughter into the picture, I think it is interesting to briefly mention what is the story itself of this fantastic watch. Owned by Marlon Brando since the early 1970s, the watch was in fact given by Brando to his adopted daughter, Petra Brando Fischer, for her graduation in 1994.
Unlike her father, who used to frequently wear the Rolex GMT also used in the film, Petra did not use it and kept it as, for her, the watch had a very special place inside her heart. Along with the watch Marlon Brando also gave his daughter a letter inside which the following words could be read:
“This watch is like a tank. You can do anything you want to it and it will keep going. I want you to keep it to remind you how proud I am of you.”
A few years later, more precisely in 2003, the watch was then given by Petra to her husband Russel on their wedding night. Aware of the emotional bond his wife placed in her father’s watch, Russel also decided to treasure it and never wear it.
In 2019, however, Petra Brando Fischer decided to auction off her father’s watch, which was sold by Phillips auction house for a record USD 1,952,000.
Final Remarks
Despite an initial estimate of CHF 1,000,000 to 2,000,000, which was later changed to CHF 3,750,000 to 6,500,000, the watch realized a whopping CHF 4,582,500, or about 4.77 million. This is an incredibly higher sum than the 1.9 million totaled in the 2019 sale.
From a certain point of view, this result brings fresh air to the world of vintage watchmaking, which had been severely penalized by the sudden drop in prices over the past year. True, we are talking about a unique watch with a unique history, so the result is not entirely indicative of the current market, but we believe that such a positive result cannot fail to influence the rest as well.
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