Generally, when celebrities decide to send their prized possessions to auction, it isn’t because things are going well.
Such is the case for Francis Ford Coppola, who, following the box office failure of his opus “Megalopolis,” is strapped for cash and is selling seven timepieces in a Phillips auction this December.
Coppola, 86, is best known for directing “The Godfather” and is considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. “Megalopolis,” a sci-fi epic decades in the making, was personally financed by Coppola, who poured as much as $100 million into production.
It grossed less than $15 million.
The Hollywood legend told the New York Times Thursday, “I need to get some money to keep the ship afloat.”
Among the seven watches poised to cross the auction block at Phillips is Coppola’s one-of-one prototype watch he personally designed with Swiss watchmaker F.P. Journe. The watch was born out of a conversation between Coppola and Journe, Paul Boutros, Phillips’ deputy chairman and head of watches, Americas, told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Coppola asked Journe whether in all of human history a timepiece had been made using a hand to indicate the time. That led to an ongoing dialogue as they worked together to figure out how a hand could be used to indicate 12 hours; how do you get 12 digits out of five fingers?”
Nine years later, in 2021, Coppola was presented with the watch, featuring a titanium hand which tells time using the fingers and thumb retracting and extending. Production versions of the watch have sold privately for around $1 million, according to THR.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.