We all love the GMT Master and its “Pepsi” bezel that screams “Rolex” from 100 meters away.
In a previous article, we saw that the insert truly makes a difference when speaking of the GMT Master, with price increments up to 200%.
However, this watch doesn’t even have an insert, nor the bezel, actually.
That being said, auction house Phillips didn’t pass up and so won’t the best collectors, ready to battle each other in New York the next 10th of December.
Why, you may ask? Let’s discover it together.
This timepiece is part of a list of “missing” watches, that world collectors lost track of. Among these, we can find the Paul Newman’s Daytona (found) and John Lennon’s Patek Philippe, just to name a few.
If the front of this Rolex GMT Master ref. 1675 doesn’t tell you much, just turn it and you’ll immediately understand.
The inscription “M. Brando” stands for Marlon Brando, one of the best actors from last century. Oscar-awarded as Best Actor in “On the Waterfront” (1955) and “The Godfather” (1973), he was named in 1999 by Time magazine as one of its “100 Most Important People of the Century”.
Despite an immense charme and master acting, over the years the actor proved a passion for the crowned house. And it will also be a Rolex to follow him in Apocalypse Now, twice Oscar awarded movie and milestone for Vietnam war enthusiasts.
A movie that goes beyond shootings, bombings and cruelty. A deep philosophical reflection on human inability to change its destiny, valid both for soldiers and the officers, trapped in a vortex so violent and dark that makes them lose contact with reality.
The GMT Master is a watch intended for jet cockpits, a lounge bar at the airport… not exactly for a Vietnamese forest.
We mean, Rolex imagined us holding a cloche, maybe a Manhattan, but not an M16.
And that’s what an Apocalypse Now set crew member thought. So, the two times Oscar winner Marlon Brando, decided to pop off the whole bezel to give it a sturdier look to his Rolex, suitable for the wrist of Colonel Walter E. Kurtz.
A steel bracelet would be too shiny for a warzone, so it’s been replaced with a black strap, more difficult to spot for enemies. Moreover, Marlon Brando decided to further personalize the watch engraving himself his name on the back.
From set to auction
Even though it’s been done everything possible to make the watch less visible to Vietcongs, it didn’t go unnoticed by one of history’s most famous movies viewers. After Apocalypse Now won two Oscars, the watch was put aside until 1995. In this year Brando gifted it to his daughter Petra Brando Fischer, who then gave it to her husband in 2003.
As Miss Fischer said to New York Times, she thinks it’s a shame to keep this watch in a drawer when many enthusiasts could fully appreciate it. We share her thoughts, and so does Phillips’ Paul Boutros, who stated that “the auction will open on a six figures base”.
After the sensational 17.75 million dollars record scored by Phillips for Paul Newman’s Daytona (you can find the story here), we have big expectations for this other piece of big-screen history.
Next 10th December we’ll see world’s best collectors face each other in New York, in an auction that will also feature the gold Rolex Day-Date from the golf legend Jack Nicklaus, knowing that part of the money will go to a charity association for abused children.
Are you curious to know what price will score history’s most famous GMT? For the ones that are busy on December 10th and won’t be able to fly to the Big Apple, the meeting to follow the auction of the year is here on ItalianWatchSpotter!
