Credits: Article and images by Chris Malburg @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/04/07/the-real-story-behind-steve-mcqueens-heuer-monaco-exclusive-interview-with-le-mans-property-master-don-nunley-2/
—————————————————————————————————–
Earlier I described the hero watch, which was kept in reserve and in mint condition for close-ups and publicity photos. Nunley thinks the watch that was the subject of this auction probably was the hero watch of Le Mans. It seems that way.
So if my accounting is right, I’ve identified where five of the six Monacos went.
Where’s the sixth? It could have been privately sold to a collector and/or have been the subject of one or more private sales since then. We’ll probably never know until it surfaces publicly.
Wasn’t there a McQueen Rolex Submariner?
Yes there was. McQueen often wore his personal Rolex Submariner on the Le Mans set. Nunley says the actor appeared on days he wasn’t scheduled to work. He liked hanging out with the drivers. Often he’d insert himself as just another driver during the filming.
On those days he’d wear whatever white driver’s racing suit was hanging in wardrobe and his Submariner. Since there were no close-ups no one could tell who the driver was anyway.
McQueen’s Submariner was auctioned by Antiquorum in 2009, where it hammered for a price of $234,000 – which seems low today, but set the record for this reference in 2009. The watch was a steel Reference 5512 from circa 1967 with three hands and no date, but in decent condition.
It still seems like a bargain given that it belonged to Steve McQueen. In all, the actor’s possessions – including other watches and a motorcycle – brought in a total of $5.7 million at this New York City auction.
Celebrity cache
Put a product – any product – in the hands of a celebrity and you have a winning combination that is guaranteed to appreciate over the years. Examples of the celeb premium are rampant.
Daniel Craig’s Omega Planet Ocean used in Casino Royale brought $255,565, the highest price ever paid for a James Bond watch. However, it is useful to know that this watch was sold at the first-ever themed auction, Antiquorum’s OmegaMania, which was an event in itself.
The second highest was Craig’s Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean used in Skyfall, which hammered at Christie’s in 2012 for $254,273. Proceeds went to Orbis, a non-profit providing eye care in developing nations.
By contrast, Roger Moore’s Rolex used in Live and Let Die most recently hammered for $365,000, though its previous turn on the podium only brought $196,056. This could be explained by the continuing, extended public interest in both Rolex and auctions.
During its heyday, Antiquorum was in the thick of celebrity watch auctions with perhaps its best result coming at a 2012 auction in which it sold Olympic ski champion Jean-Claude Killy’s Rolex Dato-Compax Chronograph (circa 1951) for a hammer price of $614,500.
Just six years ago in 2012 Christie’s auctioned Eric Clapton’s 1987 Patek Philippe Reference 2499/100 in platinum for an astounding $3.6 million. Without the famous guitarist’s provenance the same reference in yellow gold sold for $539,000 at Bonham’s 2015 Geneva auction.
Before Major League Baseball began handing out World Series rings, players were awarded watches. Babe Ruth’s Gruen Verithin pocket watch commemorating the Yankees’ 1923 World Series championship hammered for $717,000 at the Heritage 2014 New York City auction. The watch was especially noteworthy since it was Ruth’s first piece of MLB championship hardware.
The Monaco watch was not alone
Nunley collected a number of other items from the film, too.
Two stand out to me as being of greatest interest: hand-carved small model cars by someone on the set. “These were so intricately detailed and so well done, they were truly works of art. One was of the Porsche 922; another was of a Ferrari.” Nunley sold them to Mike Isenberg in Beverly Hills.
Lastly, Nunley kept the original Le Mans script.
However, there were so many changes – often on a daily basis and sometimes within the same day – that he stopped keeping track of them. The changes came on different-colored pages to identify which version they were.
Nunley began just shoving the colored pages into the back of his script, which he had nicely bound. And he sold it to Isenberg for $3,000. Later Isenberg told him that was the most money ever paid for a script not signed by the actor or director.
So that’s my story of Steve McQueen’s Heuer Monaco.
What began as dinner with a long-standing friend took me on a mystery tour of what actually happened to one of the film industry’s most famous props – as told to me by the Le Mans property master himself.
Don Nunley is the author of a book about Le Mans entitled Steve McQueen: Le Mans in the Rearview Mirror.
Chris Malburg is also an author, his latest novel is Man of Honor.
* This article was first published on June 26, 2018 at The Real Story Behind Steve McQueen’s Heuer Monaco: Exclusive Interview With ‘Le Mans’ Property Master Don Nunley.
You may also enjoy:
Update: Loren Janes/Steve McQueen Ref. 5513 Rolex Submariner Saga Redux Thanks To ‘The Hunter’
Steve McQueen, The Set Of ‘Le Mans,’ And A Surprising Cartier Tank
Phillips Pulls Steve McQueen Rolex Submariner Reference 5513 From Fall 2018 Auction
Credits: Article and images by Chris Malburg @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/04/07/the-real-story-behind-steve-mcqueens-heuer-monaco-exclusive-interview-with-le-mans-property-master-don-nunley-2/