It took Francis Ford Coppola decades to bring his dream movie, Megalopolis, to fruition using his own hard-earned cash: It took just 11 minutes for him to earn some of that cash back in a record-breaking Phillips watch auction.
The legendary director of The Godfather movies, Apocalypse Now, and other cinematic classics worked with Phillips auction house to sell his ultra-rare F.P. Journe FFC watch prototype along with seven other remarkably covetable timepieces from his personal collection. The results proved a smashing success (unlike the box office woes of Megalopolis), as Coppola’s one-of-one F.P. Journe fetched $10.75 million from an anonymous buyer via phone a mere 11 minutes into the auction. The sale price makes it the most expensive watch sold by Philipps in the U.S. since the the nearly $17.8 million auction of Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona in 2017, as well as the most ever paid for a timepiece from independent watchmaker F.P. Journe.
The $120 million, Coppola-funded 2024 production of Megalopolis brought in just $14.4 million worldwide, The Hollywood Reporter notes, leaving Coppola hurting for cash. And while Coppola’s F.P. Journe prototype timepiece (co-designed by the director with the watchmaker) was valued at about $1 million, its sale price quickly vaulted past previous Phillips records.
It’s also worth noting that mere minutes after the distinctive F.P. Journe prototype sold this past weekend in New York City, another Coppola horological rarity (the F.P.Journe Chronomètre à Résonance) sold for more than $584,000.
The F.P. Journe prototype proved a true partnership between the ultra-artisanal Geneva watchmaker and the iconic director, further bolstering a collection that includes rarities from the likes of Breguet and Rolex. The F.P. Journe watch features a human-like hand across the dial, with moving fingers to indicate the time. It’s utterly one-of-a-kind, inscribed with Coppola’s name on the caseback for good measure.
Coppola and F.P. Journe dreamed up the watch concept after a 2012 meeting with F.P. Journe’s founder and master watchmaker François-Paul Journe at the director’s Inglenook, Napa Valley winery. As F.P. Journe notes, “the two became so captivated by the concept of using one human hand to convey a twelve-hour period that discussions and prototyping continued for years, culminating with this prototype watch resulting from Coppola’s idea.”
The timepiece with its textured alligator leather strap and skeletonized design, is a stunner now belonging to one lucky (and wealthy) buyer. Of the unique and striking timepiece, Paul Boutros, the Phillips deputy chairman and head of watches in the Americas noted “this FFC Prototype is without question, one of the most historically significant F.P. Journe timepieces ever made,” adding that the remarkable timepiece “showcases what can be achieved when great creative minds collaborate, igniting the fires of ingenuity.” With an auction sale price to match, the race is on to see what horological history Phillips might help make next.
