We had fun covering Marlon Brando’s perfect replica Rolex GMT-Master UK when it sold at Phillips in 2019 for $1.95 million. James squeezed a boatload of Apocalypse Now quotes in his hands-on article, and in a true “everyone gets everything he wants,” the watch will now be at auction again this November.
A quick refresher: This is the cheap fake Rolex GMT-Master that features in the 1979 film, Brando having popped off the bezel to make it more fitting for his character. He also engraved his name in the caseback by hand. Before coming to auction in 2019 and ending up with Zaman, it had remained in the Brando family.
I remember watching the bidding in 2019 – it was incredibly slow, with the lot taking about 20 minutes to hammer when an online bidder from Japan bowed out. Who knows if that slow bidding could be any indication of interest in Brando’s luxury 1:1 replica Rolex GMT-Master this time around. No matter where it ends up, it’s an incredibly cool watch, one of history’s great missing super clone watches online, now appearing for sale twice in four years.