OK SigForum watch aficionados, here's one for you. Be interesting to see how high this goes.

https://www.caranddriver.com/n...-wristwatch-auction/

Steve McQueen's Famous Heuer Monaco Wristwatch to Be Auctioned

The watch rose to fame as part of McQueen's film Le Mans, becoming a symbol of the golden age of film and racing.

BY KYLE KINARD
OCT 29, 2020

We don't usually write about watches around here, but if an exception to the rule exists, it's this: A Heuer Monaco worn by Steve McQueen during the production of Le Mans is going to auction on December 12. The Monaco rose to fame following the release of Le Mans, where it garnered dozens of minutes of screen time strapped to McQueen's wrist. The watch and its funky square case featured prominently on advertising material for the film. It became attached to McQueen's brand of cool and to that golden age of racing.

McQueen gifted this particular watch (one of just six Monacos procured by the film's production department) to Haig Alltounian at the conclusion of filming Le Mans. Alltounian served as chief mechanic on the film, an important role, given exotic prototype racers like Porsche's 917 regularly reached triple-digit speeds on set (one stunt driver even crashed and lost a leg during filming). When McQueen handed over the watch, Alltounian recalls him saying, "Thank you for keeping me alive all these months." Alltounian says he originally turned down the gift, but McQueen had already engraved the watch's caseback "To Haig Le Mans 1970."

While McQueen's story is well known, Alltounian's is similarly fascinating. An acolyte for life, the SoCal native began amateur racing with his own 1959 Porsche RSK Spyder. When his racing funds ran short, he found employment, hired by Shelby American to assemble their 289 Cobra on the factory line. Just two weeks later, Alltounian landed his dream job wrenching in Shelby's racing division. Years later, Alltounian joined Dan Gurney's All-American Racers. He worked there from 1965 through 1968.

Alltounian was assigned as Denny Hulme's race mechanic for the 1968 Indy 500. The pair remained longtime friends, and Alltounian supposedly placed a recommendation that landed Hulme a job on Bruce McLaren's Can-Am team.

Later, Alltounian worked for John Von Neumann's Competition Motors racing team, serving as chief mechanic for drivers including Ken Miles and Richie Ginther. In 1970, McQueen's production company asked Alltounian if he'd act as chief mechanic on the film and help get McQueen back up to speed in racing beforehand. The pair competed in the 1970 12 Hours of Sebring, securing second place in a Porsche 908/02. Not bad for a warmup.

So, while a wristwatch is just a wristwatch at the end of the day, they do bear witness to some incredible stories. This watch, strapped to McQueen's wrist on a 200-mph run down Le Mans's Mulsanne, then given to Alltounian later that same day, tells a better story than most.

Phillips will auction off the watch on December 12, 2020, as part of its Racing Pulse event.

It will be interesting to see how much this will go for.

Not to derail your thread but I was wondering the other day how much the infamous red guitar with white and black stripes of Eddie VanHalen would go for.

Interesting, but Alltounian could not have been Ken Miles' chief mechanic after working for Dan Gurney's All-American Racers from 1965 through 1968 as the article states. Ken Miles died in 1966.

I was thinking that if I was rich I might be tempted to bid on it, then I clicked on the link and saw what it looked like... not my cup of tea.

Got to agree, that is one ugly watch. I once had a Heuer stopwatch. I bought it at a gunshow. The case was plastic and it had military markings. I kept it in my office desk drawer and some SOB on the cleaning crew stole it. In the early days of the 60 Minutes news show, the stopwatch had Heuer markings. Today the watch face is plain. I always thought the brand lost some of its mystique, when it became Tag Heuer

At the price this is going to go for you would not be wearing it on your wrist unless you had a bodyguard walking next to you...

One of Newman's Daytonas is up at the same auction.

More my speed, though well beyond my budget.

Never cared for the majority of the square faced watches.

Interesting. It’ll fetch a few bucks, but would be surprised if it got anywhere close to the $17.75M of Newman’s Rolex a couple years ago.

The ‘Bullitt’ Mustang ‘only’ went for $3.4M.

Boss

Yeah, unless it’s something as iconic as a Cartier Tank, I think watch faces do much better being round. But that’s a neat story. Honestly, I find Alltounian‘s life to be more interesting to me than McQueen’s, but that’s because I’ve been going down a somewhat similar path.

quote:

Originally posted by Boss1:
Interesting. It’ll fetch a few bucks, but would be surprised if it got anywhere close to the $17.75M of Newman’s Rolex a couple years ago.

The ‘Bullitt’ Mustang ‘only’ went for $3.4M.

Boss

Yes, but an early Rolex Daytona is quite valuable even if Paul Newman didn't own it. And Newman's was iconic in a way that McQueen's Huer isn't.

The Heuer is just a movie prop, a really neat prop. In real life and even on the set of that movie he would wear his Rolex submariner.

Same watch that Jesse bought Walter according to this article...

https://www.ablogtowatch.com/t...n-breaking-bad-show/

Like I said, once I saw that ugly square thing even if I was rich I would not bid on it... but I would on this one... offered the same day:

Used to have a Daytona. Paid $475 for it brand new in 1974. Guess I shouldn't have sold it 30 years ago.