I must admit I was caught completely off-guard.
Two important Rolex watches owned by very famous Rolex ambassadors were auctioned on tuesday night in New York by Phillips watches. One, a Rolex day-date that literally told history, golfing history and defined Rolex values over decades. The other owned by one of the most talented actors in the world. I knew both would fetch good prices and both did. But the results of both watches in comparison to each other took me by surprise.
Here is the story how coolness beat history.
When Phillips watches announced they would auction the day-date of Jack Nicklaus, I knew this was a very big deal.
Here is the watch that Jack wore every day for over 50 years and won numerous majors with (12/20 majors won with showing the famous day-date). I am not an avid golfer but even I know that Jack Nicklaus is one of the best, if not the best golfer that ever lived. He is one of the all time great sportsmen. When Rolex says in their advertising that Rolex does not tell time, but history – they are referring to men like Jack Nicklaus who won some of the greatest tournaments in the world with his Rolex accompanying him. Indeed Jack Nicklaus is an official Rolex ambassador to this day and a perfect one.
(Picture Credit: Associated Press – showing Jack Nicklaus with his Rolex day date 1803 from 1967).
There are few more important Rolex watches than that of the Jack Niklaus watch. It fetched a relatively strong USD 1.22m and set a new world record for a Rolex day-date. But it could have and should have probably fetched more relative to its importance. Especially because an hour later a Rolex GMT owned by Marlon Brando and worn in Apocalypse Now fetched a whopping $1.95m.
Wait a minute. What? A watch in a film that probably most people have never heard about, beat out one of the most important watches in sports history?
I agree it is pretty crazy. But I think I can explain it, and I take an educated guess who might have bought the Brando watch.
Let me get straight into it. Marlon Brando was for sure one of the most talented and greatest actors that ever lived. He was also one of the most handsome men – a true Hollywood sex-symbol of the 1950s and 60s. And one of the coolest ones (I will get into that later).
As talented an actor as Marlon Brando was – it was however his outsized personality and controversial persona that made him a true legend. And I think this is the reason why so many people are attracted to the image of Marlon Brando (besides his good looks). In the end I think also this is the reason why the watch did so well.
He was a bit of a bad boy (Brando broke the jaw of a photographer who was following him around in 1973), was difficult to get along with on film sets and he was a epic womanizer. He had affairs with Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Jakie Kennedy (just naming some glamorous ones – there were plenty plenty more). He had multiple wives (three) and fathered more than 11 children – including 3 adopted ones. He didn’t mind dating women half his age and found seducing his housekeeper also convenient (with whom he would have 3 more children).
While he was a notorious womanizer, he also is remembered for another act that made him a legend: Declining an Oscar. Brando received a second Oscar in 1973 for the Film The Godfather (one of my favourite films of all time) but he refused to accept it. Instead he sent a Native American to decline the Oscar on Brando’s behalf due to poor treatment of Native Americans. How many stars can claim to have declined an Oscar? Not many.
Marlon Brando stood up for things he believed in. And if that meant declining an Oscar and not appearing at the awards- so be it.
(Marlon Brando was regarded as one of the most handsome men that ever lived).
This leads me to his 1972 Rolex GMT Master Ref 1675 that was his personal watch and which he wore on the set of Apocalypse Now.
It achieved an incredible result, selling for $1.95m and is the most expensive Rolex sports watch ever to be auctioned – not including the Daytona. Yes, you read that right. No submariner can match this result the GMT fetched. No explorer and no Sea Dweller. This particular GMT is a rather late 1675 series with matte dial and white printing. It is neither particularly rare nor that sought after – within the 1675 GMT Master world. A normal one without the provenance (and missing a bezel) is worth maybe $10’000.
But that is completely besides the point. Because in this case it was the man who made the watch.
(Credit: Phillips watches). A front view of the 1675 that belonged to Marlon Brando.
I admit the watch looked pretty cool without the bezel. Rumours are that the producers didn’t want Brando to wear his Rolex, so he took off the bezel to make it look different. The engraving on the back that Brando did personally with a electric micro engraved pen only adds to the masculinity of the watch.
You know how some dogs look like their owner and vice versa? Well it is the same with this 1675 GMT Master. I said it above and it is worth repeating again: This watch represented Marlon Brando. It was masculine and rugged just like the owner. And it also had plenty of character just like the owner.
It also helped in my view that the watch was a sports Rolex (which is what collectors gravitate too today). And I think this also played a role why the 1675 GMT fetched a higher price than the Jack Nicklaus day-date.
The last factor that could have helped the phenomenal price is that the Marlon Brando GMT as well as the actor is still in the current Rolex advertisement. See ad below. Marlon Brando is bottom row second from left.
(Credit: Rolex magazine / Jake).
Closing thoughts
This week, one of the most visible watches in sporting history, the Jack Nicklaus Rolex was outshined by the Marlon Brando GMT. It is not that the Jack Nicklaus watch did badly. It did over $1.2m which is a record for any day date. Not bad for a watch that is worth between $8-10’000 in my view. But the star among Rolex watches was the GMT Master of Marlon Brando, fetching nearly $2m and 60% more than the Jack Nicklaus day-date.
The more I think about it – the more I can understand why this happened.
Stricktly in terms of watches – it makes sense. Rolex GMT sport watches, especially the 1675 GMT is just a cooler watch than the Rolex day-date – especially one in gold like Jack Nicklaus had. That is just the reality right now, and as a matter of fact it has been like that since a long time already. Is the Jack Nicklaus Rolex more important in terms of Rolex history? Absolutely. Far more! But historical importance is not everything.
In this case, historical sporting greatness was overshadowed by one of the greatest actors of all time whose watch was as rugged and cool as the owner was. And sometimes coolness just matters (just look at what the personal watch of Paul Newman did at auction).
Marlon Brando was an American Icon. He was cool long before Steve McQueen was. As one journalist stated, ‘Brando was rock and roll before the rock and roll even existed’. He was one of the most handsome men that ever lived and a true sex-symbol of the 1950s and 60s. Without a doubt he was one of the great all time actors, but he had an outsized personality to match his acting talent. He was outspoken, was addicted to women and stood up against society when he saw things differently.
He was a genius in terms of his profession. But like all geniuses, he had some flaws. But it is exactly that bad boy, rebellious image that Marlon Brando had, that made him globally appealing.
Thoughts on who the winning bidder might be: Towards the end of the bidding for the Brando watch – there were 3 phones. It was Nathalie’s client whose aggressive style of bidding makes me think I have seen him bidding before at Phillips. Then there was a Japanese client on the phone who later dropped out. That left Nathalie against a client of Alex. Now given that Alex is based in Geneva and fluent in French makes me think that it could have been a client based in the Geneva region of Switzerland. Also as aggressive as Nathalie’s client was – the client of Alex was the opposite. He would match Nathalie’s client by increments of only an additional $10’000.
So the bidding might have gone something like this: Nathalie client: $1.5m. Alex client: $1.510m. Nathalie client: $1.600m. Alex client $1.610m. In the end even if that strategy did slightly irradiate the auctioneer, it paid off as Alex’s client won the final bid in the end (and proved his strategy was actually quite clever). The conservative style of bidding makes me think that it could have been a Swiss client based in Geneva. Because in my view, only a Swiss would bid like that. And who could that Swiss client be? Let me put it this way. I will make an educated bet it is the client whose founder has a bridge named after him in the heart of Geneva.
NB: For more information on Marlon Brando and his watches – see this article here.
