Sylvester Stallone to auction $2.5 million Patek Philippe at Sotheby's treasury

Rocky star Sylvester Stallone will sell 11 watches at Sotheby's on June 5, including an ultra-rare Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime watch that originally sold for around $2.5 million.

This will be the first time a Grandmaster Chime has been auctioned commercially. At the 2019 Only Watch charity auction, a steel model sold for $31 million, setting a record.

Stallone's version of the two-sided watch, with its 20 complications (the most Patek has ever put into a wristwatch) is in white gold. It has five different ringing modes, features a perpetual calendar, and can track two time zones. The watch is so rare, even for the lauded Swiss watchmaker, that it comes with an elaborate presentation box that includes a collector's book and plaque, both bearing Stallone's name, an original certificate, cufflinks and an iPad in a leather case. Patek Philippe leather. The watch remains in its plastic packaging; the action star has never worn it.

Sotheby's has given Stallone's Grandmaster Chime an estimate of between $2.5 million and $5 million, although it could certainly go for more.

That watch joins other coveted Patek Philippes, as well as watches from Audemars Piguet, Cartier, Rolex and Piaget. A group of Panerai watches, including the one Stallone wore in the film Expendables 2, complete the collection, which will be sold as part of Sotheby's Important Watches sale in New York City.

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Stallone, now 77, says he's had the watch long enough and it's time to move on. He is a long-time watch collector that he owned around 100 watches. “I have been a Patek Philippe customer and enthusiast for many years,” he tells Bloomberg. “When I look back on my time with Patek and the watches I have collected, I feel a sense of pride. There is the feeling that I have achieved it. “

According to Stallone, he bought the Grandmaster Chime as a collector and had no intention of using it. He says it wasn't easy getting the watch; He had to appeal to the highest levels of the company to be assigned one. He compares the watch to a Monet (a work of art) and says letting it go is “bittersweet.”

“When you have a great watch and its popularity grows,” he says, “it's a constant reminder that hard work pays off.”

Two highly coveted Nautilus models are also for sale. A 2021 stainless steel reference 5711/13000A-001, with a green sunray dial and diamonds on the bezel, is estimated to sell for between $200,000 and $400,000 due to its extreme rarity. A steel example with a blue dial with reference 5711/1A-001 is estimated to sell for between $50,000 and $100,000. Line 5711 has been discontinued, which has skyrocketed its value on the secondary market.

Stallone also has a long-standing relationship with Panerai, the chunky dive watch maker owned by Swiss luxury giant Richemont. After the actor wore one in the 1994 film Daylight, the company saw a surge in public interest. “Without Sylvester Stallone, Panerai would not be what it is today,” says Geoff Hess, Sotheby's director of watches for the Americas. “I'm not sure we even knew about Panerai.”

Stallone's friend Arnold Schwarzenegger began wearing Panerai, and Stallone went on to wear a Panerai Bronzo in the movie Expendables 2; he can be seen wearing it on the poster. According to Hess, he gave Bronzos to key cast members, including Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Liam Hemsworth, Chuck Norris and Schwarzenegger.

“I always thought the bronze Luminor PAM00382 was amazing because of the metal,” Stallone says. “Its design reminds me of the Titanic (a porthole) and it has that industrial feel. “I knew I had to use it in the movie because it was going to make a big statement.”

The one he is selling has the number 000, “so it is probably the first one Panerai made,” he adds. “I put this to the test: underwater, over water, in the sand, fight scenes, you name it. He was my partner throughout that movie and more. I have gotten a lot of pleasure from this watch. And now, why not let someone else enjoy it as much as I do?

Other watches in the group include an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon 50th Anniversary estimated in the $100,000 to $200,000 range and a rose gold Rolex Day-Date for $25,000 to $50,000.

Sotheby's Hess was able to close the sale thanks to a years-long relationship with Stallone. When Hess was at rival auction house Phillips, he worked with the actor in 2020 on a sale of five watches, including the Daylight Panerai. He also claims that there is a distant link dating back to Hess's childhood.

“If you look at the credits at the end of every Rocky movie, they say, 'This movie is dedicated to the enduring memory of Jane Oliver,'” Hess says. Oliver was Stallone's first manager in the late 1970s and a cousin of Hess. “She gave me an autographed photo that says 'To Geoffrey from Sly,' she says. “I've had it for 47 years.”

Hess connected with Stallone in 2019 and they began working together. She knew that Stallone had the Grandmaster Chime and together they determined the right time to sell it. “I'm preparing for what I hope could be a record for a modern watch” at a nonprofit auction, Hess says. “We certainly aim to break a record for a 21st century watch.”