Sylvester Stallone’s obsession with watches began in 1976 when he accidentally caught a glimpse of Gregg Allman’s hand sporting “the most beautiful thing that the actor had ever seen”. It was this encounter that sparked Stallone’s almost lifelong fascination with timepieces.
The actor is going to present a part of his collection at Sotheby’s auction in New York on June 5, 2024. In total, the sale will feature 11 timeless watches from Stallone’s timepiece collection (pun intended). The items have been worn by him either in daily life or on set.
The definite star of the collection is a 5-million-dollar Grandmaster Chime manufactured by Patek Philippe, a time-honored Swiss company that has been around since 1839. This item is bound to steal the spotlight as only seven pieces of this type were ever made, not to mention that the manufacturer had spent about 100,000 hours on its meticulous design and intricate assembly process. The luxury item was made in Geneva and is said to be one of the most precise models so far. Besides telling the time, Grandmaster Chime is capable of performing about twenty additional features. For example, it has several chiming mechanisms and can verbally tell you the time and date. The actor recalls how difficult it was to lay his hands on one of these babies. Stallone “had to appeal to certain powers” and “write many letters” to get Patek Philippe’s board to sell him the watch. Now, if a Hollywood star has to write countless letters to get this watch, that must be an extra special piece!
Another luxurious item that will be featured at the auction comes from the same manufacturer, but this one is much more common and can fetch up to 400,000 US dollars. The self-winding Nautilus has an olive face encircled with 32 rectangular diamonds and comes in a high-quality steel casing.
An exquisite Audemars Piguet piece and a Rolex also deserve a special mention. The first one is expected to sell for up to 200,000, while the second might fetch about 50,000 dollars. The Audemars Piguet has a beautiful deep-blue dial encased in 18k pink gold. The Rolex is actually a commemorative piece celebrating one of the company’s anniversaries and is designed to show both the date and day of the week.
A high-end black-faced Cartier piece encased in gold will also likely turn a few heads, not to mention several Panerai watches. The actor has shown his support for this Italian company both in life and on stage. One of the items has been custom-made exclusively for the actor and has his name engraved on the back of the casing.
Apart from the main collection, there are several complimentary items that come with some watches such as Airpods and an iPad branded by some famous watch-making companies. Thus, Sotheby’s auction is promising to be one of the most interesting upcoming events for all luxury watch enthusiasts.
