The standout of Phillips’ New York Watch Auction XIII this weekend was an F.P. Journe FFC prototype from Francis Ford Coppola’s collection, which sold for $10.75 million. This sale represents Phillips’ highest-ever U.S. watch auction result since the nearly $17.8 million Paul Newman Rolex Daytona in 2017, and it marks the record for the most expensive F.P. Journe timepiece ever sold. According to the press release, an anonymous buyer won the piece after an intense 11-minute bidding battle.
A Challenge from The Godfather Director
It began in 2012 when Coppola, the director of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, asked Journe if any watchmaker had represented hours the way the ancients did — by counting them on fingers. Journe embraced the challenge and, after seven years of development, introduced a wristwatch featuring his Octa automatic movement with a remontoir d’égalité.
Inspired by 16th-Century Prosthetics
One of just two produced, Mr. Coppola’s prototype is defined by an innovative automaton: a sculpted hand whose five fingers indicate the twelve hours. Journe was inspired by Ambroise Paré, the 16th‑century surgeon known for early prosthetic hands, whose articulated iron design informed the watch’s almost steampunk appearance. It evokes a near‑steampunk feel, with overlapping metal plates and exposed screws that call to mind medieval gauntlets built to shield the hands and wrists in combat.
Technical Mastery: The Octa Caliber
After seven years of work to integrate and validate the design, Journe delivered a complex yet reliable watch driven by the Octa caliber 1300.3 with remontoir d’égalité, with the movement measuring a mere 8.1 mm thick.
With its textured alligator strap and skeletonized construction, the timepiece is spectacular—and now belongs to one lucky, very wealthy owner.
Would you buy the prototype if money were no object?
