Another day, another ultra-rare watch obliterates auction records. A TAG Heuer Monaco that Steve McQueen rocked throughout the 1971 film Le Mans (!) has became the most expensive TAG Heuer ever sold. The timepiece smashed records by selling for a total of $2,208,000 (over P106 million).
What makes the watch special is that it’s the last of the six Heuer Monacos. It’s also one of the two watches that McQueen kept himself. According to reports, the online auction for the timepiece opened at $160,000 and went up to $400,000. After slowing down, a trio of bidders brought up the sale to $1.8 million (before premiums).
The watch was part of the 137 timepieces that went up for sale on December 12 at Phillips New York. Dubbed as one of the most important Heuer wristwatches of all time, the timepiece is in superb, original condition with a unique case back engraving.
“Its provenance is bulletproof,” says Phillips head of watches Paul Boutros. “It’s a very attractive watch in a very famous movie, and it's very visible in the film.”
Among those in the same auction lot included a Rolex Oyster Cosmograph Daytona that Paul Newman himself wore for years.
NOTE: This article first appeared on Esquiremag.ph. Minor edits have been made.
