Coppola’s custom watch sells for record $10.8M

Francis Ford Coppola’s personal F.P. Journe FFC prototype watch sold for $10.755 million at Phillips New York on Saturday, setting a record as the most expensive F.P. Journe wristwatch ever sold at auction.hodinkee

The sale follows significant financial losses from Coppola’s self-financed film Megalopolis, which earned just $14.4 million globally against a $120 million production budget, leaving the director without available funds.hollywoodreporter

The unique timepiece, co-created with master watchmaker François-Paul Journe and featuring a titanium hand that extends fingers to indicate hours, drew competitive bidding for 11 minutes before an unidentified phone bidder secured it.hodinkee

Francis Ford Coppola’s Custom Watch Sells for Record $10.8 Million

Francis Ford Coppola’s bespoke F.P. Journe FFC Prototype watch sold for $10.755 million at Phillips New York on Saturday morning, setting a new benchmark as the most expensive F.P. Journe wristwatch ever sold at auction. The sale follows the director’s devastating financial losses from Megalopolis, his self-financed epic that grossed just $14.4 million globally against a $120 million production budget.hodinkee

After 11 minutes of competitive bidding at Phillips Watch Auction XIII, an unidentified phone bidder secured the unique timepiece. “Oh wow… Oh wow,” auctioneer Aurel Bacs remarked as he introduced the lot to a packed room. The watch hammered at $9 million before premiums brought the final price to $10.755 million, surpassing the previous F.P. Journe record of $8.3 million set in 2024.watchesbysjx

A Hollywood-Horology Collaboration

The FFC watch emerged from a 2012 dinner conversation at Coppola’s Napa Valley residence, where the director asked master watchmaker François-Paul Journe if anyone had ever used a human hand to tell time. After nine years of development, Journe unveiled the completed prototype in 2021, featuring a black-treated titanium hand inspired by a 16th-century prosthetic designed by French surgeon Ambroise Paré. The watch indicates hours through extending and retracting fingers, while minutes appear on a rotating white ring.hollywoodreporter

“Collaboration is the sex of creativity,” Coppola said in a recent interview with Phillips about the project. Pierre Halimi, head of Montres Journe America, noted that Journe told Coppola from the beginning: “Francis, if you ever have a problem, sell the watch”. Coppola wore the watch to Megalopolis‘ Cannes premiere in May 2024, just weeks after his wife Eleanor’s death in April.hodinkee

The sale also represents the highest price paid for a watch at a U.S. auction since Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona fetched $17.75 million at Phillips in 2017. Coppola’s personal Chronomètre à Résonance, which his late wife gifted him and sparked his friendship with Journe, sold for $584,200.hollywoodreporter