What watches does Alain Delon, one of the most important monuments of French cinema, wear? Does he have the same passion for timepieces as his lifelong friend, the late Jean-Paul Belmondo, of whom we have spoken?é in another article ?

As we will see immediately, it would seem that Mr. Delon went much further in the world of tocantes collectors.

Born in 1935 in Ile-de-France, Alain Delon started in cinema at the age of 22. He is also a producer and has tried his hand at directing a few times. The many films in which he appeared totaled more than 134 million spectators at the cinema.

In 2012, Mr. Delon took part in an auction in Paris during which more than 100 of his watches were offered to buyers from all over the world. Before the sale, this impressive part of his collection was exhibited in Hong Kong in order to attract a Chinese and Asian clientele very attached to the Delon name. Lepoint.fr explained in an article that the Cornette de Saint Cyr house, which was in charge of the sale, had expressed itself by saying: :

“Delon has become a common name in China, synonymous with masculine beauty among young Chinese people. The catalog will be bilingual French-Chinese“.

About the collection itself, the house would have explained that:

“As in all the collections he has created, Alain Delon let himself be guided by his intuition, not yielding to any fad“.

The actor also explained that he hated posthumous sales. This is one of the reasons why he already parted with his art collection in 2007, which brought in the modest sum of 8.7 million euros, as well as his collection of wine bottles for a result exceeding 250,000 euros.

• Let's take a look at some of the pieces from this sale, as well as other watches he's worn in movies and in life. We will end with the most sought-after sold during this event and with watches stamped Alain Delon which seem to hide something…

 

Cartier Tank Lapis Lazuli

During the sale in question, we discovered a Cartier Tank very special . This yellow gold piece has a bezel set with lapis lazuli and it appears to be a unique piece. It is also engraved with the initials of the actor on the back, which adds to its exclusivity. It is fitted with an elegant white lizard strap and Alain is said to have said that he likes to wear this piece in the summer because he finds it radiant on tanned skin.”.

At the time of the sale, it was estimated at around 2,000 euros but it reached a sale price of 55,000 euros. In 2013, one year after the sale, the experts of the Artcurial house would have estimated this same piece between 80,000 and 120,000 euros Who says better in terms of capital gain over 1 year? ?

Cartier Tank rounded

In the movie« A cop », the actor wore a Cartier Tank rounded more classic.

He also owned a white gold version and white dial.

Cartier Tank Reversible

Still at Cartier, the Parisian event we talked about in the introduction made it possible to sell a Cartier Tank Reversible… Well, that's what we think because the auction site advertises this watch as a Cartier Tonneau Reversible, but we think that's a mistake.r.

Anyway, it sold for 26,250 euros, which is ten times the estimate of experts at the time.

2 Cartier Pasha

Still at the French brand, we discover here a Cartier Pasha in yellow gold and with a white dial and a second in steel with a black dial.

The origin of the Pasha dates back to the very beginning of the 1930s, with an order for a unique watch from the Pasha of Marrakesh to Louis Cartier. Le Pacha needed a timepiece that was luxurious enough to wear to official meetings, but also durable enough to follow him in his daily life, which involved baths and swimming, among other things, when waterproof watches were only that. in their infancy.

Cartier therefore offered him a round yellow gold water-resistant watch specially designed for the occasion. The Pasha was ousted from power in 1950 and the watch disappeared with him. It was not until 1985 that the French brand decided to launch a collection paying homage to this history: the Pasha. To rework the design of this collection, the French brand decided to call on an iconic designer: the famous Gerald Genta , the man behind, among other things, the Royal Oak (which we'll talk about later) and the Nautilus, sorry.

Cartier launched many versions of the Pasha and Mr. Delon owned at least two, rather classic. The first in 38 millimeters in yellow gold on a leather strap on which we discover a discreet date window at 4:30, and the second in steel in the same format on a steel bracelet, with a large date at 6 o'clock. Steel versions were introduced in 1990.

Cartier Santos 100 XL Chronograph

To continue with Cartier, we could see in the list of watches sold in Paris a Cartier Santos Chronograph . It seems to be a Santos 100 XL version measuring 41 millimeters wide and 55 millimeters long, a rather imposing piece, mixing square and rectangle shapes and mounted on a leather strap. Used, it is usually between 5,000 and 7,000 euros.

Piaget

 

 

Piaget was also part of the sale with this piece with a small diameter, a white dial with Roman numeral indexes and a bezel set with diamonds. It is mounted on a bracelet reminiscent of scales. Everything is certainly in white gold, a material often used by the Swiss house belonging to Richemont.

 

3 Breitling Chronomats

To all this are added at least 5 pieces from Breitling and we start with three Breitling Chronomat.

The first is largely inspired by the design of the first Chronomat launched in the 1940s. This was developed as a calculation tool for engineers and the name refers to Chronograph and Mathematics. Its rotating logarithmic scale mechanism will also be used as a basis for the development of the Navitimer, which we will discuss below. This black-dial Chronomat is driven by a hand-wound chronograph caliber.

 

The other two Chronomats are among the more modern models. We first discover a version quite close to the one found on the wrist of Mr. Belmondo. Here it is the pushers and a few other details that are in gold, as a reminder of the color of the three sub-dials. It is mounted on a beautiful brown leather strap and it seems to be a version of the reference B13050 . It is driven by caliber B13, an automatic chronograph movement developed on the basis of the famous ETA 7750. Second-hand, it is often around 2,000 euros.

The second with similar characteristics is entirely in steel and offers a blue dial and white sub-dials. This is mounted on a steel bracelet.

The actor seems to like this model since it has been seen with other versions, like in this photo:

Breitling Navitimer

Other Breitling  for Alain Delon, a Navigate , a great classic from the Swiss brand. It was developed in 1952 following the request of an association of airplane pilots which sought to equip its members. It is designed as a real calculation tool for pilots, which partly explains why its characteristic dial is so busy.

Many versions of the Navitimer were offered over the years and it is difficult to be sure of Mr. Delon's, but I would opt for a reference 806 from 1965, driven by the hand-wound Venus 178 chronograph caliber. It can sometimes be found second-hand for around 4,000 euros.

Breitling Incabloc 788

We finish Breitling with an elegant  Incabloc 788 stamped Breitling Geneva. It is a 36 millimeter diameter steel chronograph with a screwed back. Much more refined and discreet than the previous models, this watch from the 1940s is driven by a hand-wound Venus 152 movement.

Rolex Daytona 116520

What would a vintage collection be without a few decent Rolexes The sale included at least 3 pieces from the brand to the crown, including onee Daytona in steel with a white dial which was estimated between 5,000 and 7,000 euros at the time, and which must be worth at least 10 times more today.

If we take the example of the Daytona 6263 Big Red of his friend Jean Paul Belmondo which was sold in 2013 for 165,000 euros, whereas he had bought it for 3,000 France in 1970, we can imagine that the value of the part of Monsieur Delon in our time is also well above its price at the time.s.

Rolex Milgauss 116400

A little more discreet than the Daytona, Mr. Delon also had a Rolex Milgauss 116400 with a black dial and the famous orange second hand. The collection has its origins in the mid-1950s, but this version was launched at Baselworld in 2007. It is powered by caliber 3131 and does not yet have the famous Glace Verte characteristic of current models, which will appear in 2014. Its case in steel measures 40 millimeters in diameter and it can be found on the gray market between 8,000 and 10,000 euros.

Zenith Chronomaster El Primero 01.0240.410

We know the El Primero as one of the very first automatic chronograph movements in the world. Since then, the movement has been improved and many variants have been proposed. For example, this version of Zenith Chronomaster El Primero with triple calendar . This is a 40 millimeter steel 90s watch with a white dial and chronograph sub-dials in addition to moon phase, date, day and month indication. It can be found used for around 5,000 euros.

 Blancpain

The sale also included pieces from Blancpain. We were able to recognize 4 of them:

The first is a chronograph Lake Geneva 2527 in steel with a white dial and a leather strap, delivered with a steel strap. We discover chronograph sub-dials, a date window at 6 o'clock and openworked sword hands. It was sold for 5,720 euros at another auction in 2020.

 

 

 

The second, a Blancpain Leman Date 2100, is a much more elegant piece with a yellow gold case and also openworked sword hands. On the white dial, there are applied gold indexes with Roman numerals for 12 o'clock, 6 o'clock and 9 o'clock. The one at 3 o'clock is replaced by a date window.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The third, a Blancpain Villeret 6595 from the 90s, is equipped with a few complications since there are two day and month windows at 12 o’clock, a central date hand and a moon phase sub-dial at 6 o’clock. It is therefore a watch with full calendar with a steel and yellow gold case, mounted on a brown leather strap. It measures just 34 millimeters in diameter and is driven by an automatic movement, caliber 913A. A very beautiful complicated piece sold for less than 5,000 euros used.

 

 

 

The fourth is a Leman Dual Time Zone GMT . This 38 millimeter steel piece has a white dial with a small seconds hand at 6 o'clock and a sub-dial displaying the time of a second time zone at 12 o'clock. At 3 o'clock there is a date window and at 9 o'clock there is a day/night indicator. It is driven by an automatic movement and can be found second-hand at just under 10,000 euros.

 

IWC Portofino 3541

We remain in complications with a  IWC Portofino 3541 in yellow gold with the moon phase sub-dial at 12 o'clock and the three other sub-dials indicating various information relating to the perpetual calendar. At 7:30 a.m., there is even a counter providing information on the current year. This watch from the 90s is only 35 millimeters in diameter, is driven by an automatic caliber and is around 8,000 euros on the gray market.

 

Bulgari Octo Finissimo

During the Cannes festival in 2020, we could see a Bulgari Octo Finissimo on the wrist of the giant of the 7th Art. It is a titanium watch 40 millimeters in diameter and only 5.15 millimeters thick, housing the BVL138, an ultra-thin 2.23 millimeter automatic caliber equipped with a platinum micro-rotor. On the titanium dial too, we discover a small second at 8 o'clock. Its list price is 14,800 euros.

Baume and Mercier 70's

In« The Samurai », he wore a piece from Baume and Mercier with a cushion-shaped case and an elegant white dial. Its steel case takes up a design from the 70s. Difficult to find its exact reference, if you know more let us know!

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo

One of the most important of the sale and the collection is this beautiful Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo , a version of one of the most famous sports-watches in the world. Delon wore this piece on his wrist in“like a boomerang” in 1976, in“Cop word” in 1985 and in“Don't wake a sleeping cop” in 1988.

In 2012, it was estimated at 2,500 euros, for a final sale price of 68,750 euros including costs. A nice slice of the total of 443.875 euros that the sale brought in in total.