Marlon Brando’s Rolex watch is up for auction!

Director Francis Ford Coppola, famous for his ‘Godfather’ series, won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Picture with ‘Apocalypse Now (1979)’, a film set in the Vietnam War. He rose to prominence as a global master. ‘Apocalypse’ also left a deep impression on the lead actors, including Marlon Brando, who played Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, and Martin Sheen, who played Captain Willard. The replica Rolex GMT-Master watch worn by Marlon Brando in the movie ‘Apocalypse’ will be entered at Game Changers, a New York auction hosted by Phillips in December.

This GMT-Master model (Ref. 1675) is from Brando’s private collection, first revealed in 1995 by her daughter Petra Brando Fischer as a gift when she entered law school after graduating from Brown University. Brando’s name (m. Brando) is also engraved on the case back, but it is said that the brando was engraved by himself, not through a professional service. Another peculiarity of this model is that it omits the bidirectional rotating bezel with a red/blue two-tone color insert (aka ‘Pepsi’). If you look at the stills from the movie at the time, you can see Brando wearing a strange (?) Rolex watch without a bezel. During the filming of ‘Apocalypse’ in Cambodia, Brando decided that the bezel looked too protruding to the camera, and she said that she wore it with the bezel removed for the sake of the film’s reality. But she has since lost it and passed it on to her daughter in her present condition, and her daughter gifted her watch to her husband in 2003 after her marriage again.
In this regard, Paul Boutros, head of replica watches division at Philips USA, said the following. “Considered as one of the greatest actors of all time, Marlon Brando’s illustrious career over 60 years has been a cornerstone of American culture and has truly defined the 20th century. This year’s Rolex GMT-Master will be worn by Marlon Brando during his lifetime. As a watch, it was once talked about like the Holy Grail among collectors, and after years of speculation, it has finally emerged. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the release of ‘Apocalypse’, so we are Marlon Brando’s daughter Petra. We are thrilled to be able to offer collectors an incredible opportunity to acquire this historic watch through Brando Fisher and her husband Russell Fisher.”
According to Philips, the overall condition of the watch is very good for its age, and all parts are original except for the strap. About 5 years ago, it was sent to the Rolex headquarters for full service including overhaul and case polishing. It remains to be seen who will become the new owner of the watch at the Game Changer Auction to be held in New York on December 10th, and who will set a new record in the history of Rolex’s world auction.