Marlon Brando’s Rolex GMT-Master from ‘Apocalypse Now’ Has Resurfaced

There are quite a few iconic men that have worn equally iconic watches throughout the course of history. We even put together a feature titled Famous Watches and the Men Who Owned Them that outlines a quite a few, including Buzz Aldrin’s Omega Speedmaster he wore to the moon. Ten years after that trip, Marlon Brando wore a modified Rolex ref. 1675 GMT-Master while playing Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now. How in the hell are those things related? Both of those iconic watches were believed to be lost to the ages. But Brando’s Rolex recently resurfaced, and it’s heading to auction at Phillips at the end of the year. This particular matte dial ref. 1675 GMT-Master Rolex had the bezel removed by Brando (too pretty for the film), is on a black strap and not a bracelet (not the original from the film) and was even hand-engraved M. Brando by the man himself with an engraving pen. The story is just as interesting. It was given to his adopted daughter, who gave it to her husband and then decided to sell it. As they pointed out on Hodinkee, “It’s a slightly more romantic twist on the old ‘it sat in a sock drawer for decades’ story that we’ve all heard.” Given the prices recently resurfaced, celebrity worn, iconic watches have been fetching at auction, we wouldn’t be surprised if this one gets into the seven figures.