With the conclusion of the final watch auction “Racing Pulse” by Phillips, it signifies another historic moment in the watch industry this year. As the grand finale, in addition to the two iconic timepieces of “racing legends” Paul Newman and Steve McQueen that were introduced over the weekend, this auction also featured various watches presented by different celebrity stars, resulting in impressive auction results. Among them, it is inevitable to mention the five cherished, Hollywood and action movie representative watches offered by male star Sylvester Stallone.
In this auction, Stallone brought a private collection from two watch factories – Panerai and Richard Mille – including a Panerai Luminor that Stallone wore in the movie “Daylight,” which sold for over $214,000 after four minutes and 18 bids, exceeding the estimated value range of $40,000 to $80,000. Additionally, his Richard Mille series watches all sold above the high estimate, with the RM052-01 ceramic tourbillon watch being the most astonishing, fetching close to $1 million.
As is well known, although not officially certified, Sylvester Stallone is definitely a very devoted senior collector of Panerai. As for the Luminor Pre-Vendôme 5218-201/A that is up for auction this time, it should be regarded as the most important modern Panerai watch to appear on the auction market to date.
Regarding this 5218-201/A, just from the code name, it can be inferred that it is related to Panerai’s current parent company, Richemont SA, formerly known as Vendome. In 1972, Giuseppe Panerai, the last member of the Panerai family, passed away, and the watch factory was taken over by former Italian Navy engineer Dino Zei. Until 1993, Dino Zei hoped to launch a series of limited edition watches under the name Officine Panerai, paying tribute to the Panerai family and the watch factory, and aiming to promote Panerai’s watchmaking craftsmanship to the general public. In the end, Dino Zei’s idea led to the creation of 677 pieces of the 5218-201/A watch, but unfortunately, the response after its release was disappointing, causing Dino Zei’s plan to fail.
Until 1996, when Sylvester Stallone was filming “Daylight,” he wanted to wear a watch in the movie. “I wanted to wear a watch that no one has ever seen. From the moment I put it on my wrist, I didn’t take it off throughout the filming of ‘Daylight’… This watch is a superstar.” Since Stallone chose to wear this Pre-Vendôme watch in the movie, Panerai immediately transformed from an unnoticed brand into a highly anticipated brand worldwide, especially in the American market. This 5218-201/a watch even helped Panerai quickly establish itself in the American market, becoming a brand that everyone wanted to wear.
Afterwards, due to Stallone’s performance in the film and his consistent image, Panerai became quite important in Hollywood, even another action star Arnold Schwarzenegger followed in Stallone’s footsteps to become a fan of Panerai.
The watch being auctioned this time is the one worn by Stallone in the movie, not the situation where Steve McQueen had six of the same Monaco in “Le Mans.” Furthermore, the watch is still in quite good condition, with the original watch box and two extra straps included in the sale that day. Stallone even specially included a handwritten description card of the watch from him back then for this auction, along with a non-sale movie program card of “Daylight” signed by him, making it quite valuable.
資料及圖片來源：Courtesy of Phillips Auction；Rubber B、Panerai-history
