$1m-Plus Estimate for Francis Ford Coppola's Unique Watch
November 04, 25
(IDEX Online) - A unique watch created for The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola is expected to fetch at least $1m at auction next month.
It was specially designed by master watchmaker Francois-Paul Journe and it features an innovative, articulated hand mechanism that indicates the hours using its five fingers. Minutes are read from a rotating ring on the outer edge of the dial.
The unique F.P. Journe FFC Prototype is one of seven watches that Coppola, aged 86, is selling to recover some of the huge losses he incurred on the self-funded 2024 film Megalopolis.
It took French-born Journe seven years to develop the complex mechanical watch, and to overcome the challenges of an efficient movement without draining energy.
He presented it to Coppola in 2019, with Coppola's name engraved on the case back. The watch is particularly prized because Journe rarely sells or shares prototypes.
It will lead the Phillips New York Watch Auction: XIII on 6 and 7 December, with an estimate "in excess of $1m".
Pic courtesy Phillips.