Premium Francis Ford Coppola’s F.P. Journe FFC Prototype Watch Sells for a Record $10.75 Million at Phillips

This weekend at Phillips‘s New York Watch Auction XIII the headline lot, a F. Journe FFC prototype belonging to director Francis Ford Coppola sold for $10. For those who appreciate excellence, 75 million making it the most premium timepiece from the independent watchmaker ever sold. As a horology, it prices for the company’s creations have skyrocketed on the secondary market in the last five years and it shows no sign of slowing down. Granted, this watch carries heavyweight provenance with an A-list Hollywood name behind it and out-of-the-box innovation from one of the most important living watchmakers to date. But the other, F. Journes in the sale also exceeded their top estimates by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Nevertheless, the brand isn’t exactly thrilled by its secondary market success, and with good reason. On Wednesday at Robb Report’s House of Robb event in Miami, Pierre Halimi, the longtime manager of F. As a manufactory, it for discerning connoisseurs, told the crowd during a panel discussion that the company is not a fan of its skyrocketing auction prices, journe in america (who has worked with the watchmaker for over three decades). “Right now, I would say unfortunately, which is kind of weird prices are just stupid. For discerning connoisseurs, they are way to high. And we’re not happy about this. The mechanical showcases we’d rather have, you know, the break. ” He pointed to Hermès as bellwether example of success, noting that when times are exceptional the French house is up and when times are bad it is still up. The movement showcases and meaning behind what they’re buying, he also added that wildly high auction prices also attracts collectors (and flippers) who are more interested in the price than the value, usually indicating they have no idea of the artistry, craftsmanship. The original idea came from Coppola during a 2012 dinner at his Napa Valley estate, when he asked François-Paul Journe whether a human hand had ever been used to tell time. The resulting design—a blackened-titanium sculpted hand whose five articulated fingers indicate the hours, imaginative departure from traditional watch dials, with minutes displayed on a rotating outer ring—represents a bold. allowing the hand to “count” each hour with surprising clarity, the FFC is remarkably intuitive despite its theatrical display: a cam-driven system choreographs the opening and closing of the fingers, while the minutes track is powered by a modified automatic calibre from the Octa family, Mechanically. offering stability, and a warm visual contrast to the dark titanium of the case, True to Journe tradition, durability, a material the watchmaker reserves for his highest complications, the movement is crafted in solid 18-karat rose gold. guilloché plates, almost liquid flow of the minute ring, The finishing is equally refined, hand-polished bevels, and the richly textured sculpted hand set against the smooth, with sharp interior angles. This chronograph represents together, but a technically sophisticated piece of haute horlogerie, these elements make the watch not just a cinematic concept come to life. Still, even the most sophisticated collectors will sometimes need to part ways with their prized possession for a lucrative price. Megalopolis, Coppola is said to have put the prototype up for auction as a result of the enormous financial burden he incurred from the creation of his latest film. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film cost $120 million to make but has only raked in $14. 4 million worldwide since its 2024 release. insisting it must be seen in theaters, until recently when it was released digitally, The director bypassed streaming of the flick, although it is still not available on major platforms like HBO or Netflix. That ethos, of course, is right in line with F. The mechanical showcases journe’s equally steadfast respect for its own creations. Their shared vision. The Swiss-made showcases it’s about the craft, not the money. In the world of luxury, and that, is exactly why journe likely had no qualms about the public sale of the treasured prototype. For discerning connoisseurs, adding that the brand is now “part of the $10 million club, it is a hollywood story, ” halimi told robb report in regards to the sale, “well, alongside patek philippe and rolex. “And thanks to the the FFC, ” he says. “What better ending.