Who bought it?
I never heard who the buyer was. There is an interview out there where Phillips’ celebrity auctioneer Aurel Bacs claims it’s an individual. MYSTERY! Because money is so cheap and plentiful and this is such a talisman of “I’m bored, let’s spend a lot of money” wealth it could be anyone. One can only hope they used AFFIRM to pay Phillips.
Where is it?
After a year underground, I’m left wondering about the physical piece of metal that is the PNPND. Is it in a safe somewhere? Does it just sit in a drawer with other priceless relics? Is it next to Ned Beatty’s Patek 2526 and Jerry Reed’s G-Shock? Who knows!??! I feel like it would be the ultimate flex to show up to the boat show/car show/annual cash-burning festival wearing this watch. I’ll update this article when the world finds out.
So what does this mean for other similar watches at auction?
Well since then a Steve McQueen-owned Rolex Submariner went up and subsequently was withdrawn from auction. The same exact people were excited as with the PNPND auction announcement. I’m sure we’ll see another blockbuster auction centered around a celebrity owned/gifted piece in 2019. We can only speculate whose it’ll be: Yul Brenner? DeForest Kelly? Tyler Perry? (God I’d love to see a Madea Rolex.)
Was anything FOREVER CHANGED?
No. The sale of that watch was propped up by hype. I guess Paul Newman was cool. So I guess owning his personal Daytona would also be cool. But how many other watches have any sort of provenance or pedigree such as this?
