After 'Megalopolis' flops, Francis Ford Coppola puts his pricey watch collection up for auction

Francis Ford Coppola wants an connection helium can’t garbage — connected his timepieces.

The Academy Award-winning manager is selling 7 watches from his idiosyncratic collection, including his customized F.P. Journe FFC Prototype, estimated to merchantability for much than $1 million, according to a connection from Phillips, the New York City-based auction house. Phillips volition clasp the auction connected Dec. 6 and 7.

The merchantability could assistance stanch losses from past year’s box-office flop “Megalopolis,” which outgo implicit $120 cardinal to marque and was mostly financed by the 86-year-old director. The movie grossed lone $14.3 cardinal worldwide.

The film, Coppola’s archetypal since his 2011 fearfulness movie “Twixt,” premiered astatine Cannes past twelvemonth to mostly antagonistic reviews. The Times’ Joshua Rothkopf called it a “wildly ambitious, overstuffed metropolis epic.”

At a quality league astatine Cannes, Coppola discussed the tremendous magnitude of his ain wealth that helium had sunk into the film, saying that helium “never cared astir money” and that his children “don’t request a fortune.”

Among the Coppola timepieces besides going nether the hammer are examples from Patek Philippe, Blancpain and IWC.

But the headlining portion is the F.P. Journe FFC Prototype that features a achromatic titanium, human-like manus that resembles a steampunk gauntlet that articulates the hours erstwhile the fingers widen oregon retract.

Francis Ford Coppola’s customized F.P. Journe FFC timepiece uses a azygous manus to bespeak each 12 hours.

(Phillips)

The ticker was a collaboration betwixt Coppola and maestro watchmaker François-Paul Journe that began pursuing a speech the brace had during a sojourn helium made to the filmmaker’s Inglenook winery successful Napa Valley successful 2012.

Coppola asked Journe if a quality manus had ever been utilized to people time. That question sparked a years-long speech during which the watchmaker grappled with however to bespeak the 12 hours of the dial utilizing conscionable 5 fingers.

Journe recovered his inspiration successful Ambroise Paré, a 16th period French barber surgeon and an innovator of prosthetic limbs successful particular, including Le Petit Lorrain, a prosthetic manus made of robust and leather that featured hidden gears and springs enabling the fingers to move, not dissimilar to a ticker mechanism.

“Speaking with Francis successful 2012 and proceeding his thought connected the usage of a quality manus to bespeak clip inspired maine to make a ticker I ne'er could person imagined myself. The situation was formidable — precisely the benignant of watchmaking task I adore,” said Journe successful a statement.

Journe yet created six prototypes and delivered Coppola’s ticker to him successful 2021.

“I’m arrogant to afloat enactment the merchantability of this ticker done Phillips to money the instauration of his creator masterpieces successful filmmaking,” helium said.

Coppola archetypal became funny successful the watchmaker erstwhile helium talented his woman Eleanor an F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance successful platinum with a achromatic golden dial for Christmas successful 2009, prompting the manager to widen an invitation to Journe to sojourn him astatine his Napa winery.

Eleanor Coppola, a documentary filmmaker and writer, died successful 2024 aft 61 years of marriage. Her F.P. Journe timepiece is besides portion of the auction and is estimated to fetch betwixt $120,000 to $240,000.