Fans of Delon stump up at watch auction
PARIS: Chinese buyers showed their economic clout here at an auction of watches owned by French film idol Alain Delon, with prices going through the roof.
Auction house Cornette de SaintCyr said the sale brought in a total of 443,875 (Rm1.8mil) as collectors and fans thronged the room while many buyers, especially in China, took part by phone.
Delon was not present for the sale of 100 watches he had collected over 50 years, including top names such as Rolex, Cartier, Blancpain, Audemars-piguet, Vacheron Constantin and Breitling.
Before the Paris sale, the watches were put on show in Hong Kong where Delon is immensely popular.
The jewel of the sale, an Audemars-piguet “Royal Oak” worn by Delon in Comme un boomerang (1976), Parole de flic (1985) and Ne reveillez pas un flic qui dort (1988), went to a Chinese buyer for 68,750 (RM275,557) – way above its 2,500 (RM10,020) estimate.
Another star was a Cartier Tank, which sold for 68,750 (RM275,557) compared with a 1,800 (RM7,214) estimate.
In November, Alain Delon’s wine collection was sold for a total of 250,412 (Rm1mil) – more than 2.5 times expectations.
The 76-year-old Delon – who was hospitalised for 24 hours this week for heart problems – has said he wanted to get rid of his collections because he preferred “to do this now” as he “hates posthumous sales”.
Born in 1935, Delon has starred in around 100 films over five decades and worked with directors such as Luchino Visconti, Michelangelo Antonioni, Jean-pierre Melville, Joseph Losey and Jean-luc Godard.
Often cast as a ruthless, steelyeyed bad boy – typified by the 1970 gangster flick Borsalino - Delon proved his versatility in other roles, such as a morally ambiguous wartime art dealer in Monsieur Klein.
His personal life has been closely intertwined with film, notably featuring relationships with actresses including Romy Schneider, Mireille Darc and Nathalie Delon.— AFP