The watch was given by McQueen to his personal stuntman, Loren Janes
ADEDOYIN JOHNSON, with agency report
A rare Rolex Submariner wrist watch owned and worn by Steve McQueen with his name engraved on the caseback will be up for sale on October 25 by Phillips, a British auction house founded in London in 1796, with head offices in London and in New York City.
The watch was given by McQueen to his personal stuntman, Loren Janes, who passed away at the age of 85 last June.
On the caseback of the watch is engraved in all caps: “TO LOREN, THE BEST DAMN STUNTMAN IN THE WORLD. STEVE” It is only known watch engraved with the iconic actor’s name.
On the caseback of the watch is engraved in all caps: “TO LOREN, THE BEST DAMN STUNTMAN IN THE WORLD. STEVE”
Janes was also a stuntman for Paul Newman (and modern-day legend Jack Nicholson), whose Rolex Daytona sold at Phillips for over $17 million last year and was the most expensive watch ever sold at auction. That timepiece had a starting estimate of $1 million, while the McQueen Rolex has a starting estimate of $300,000 to $600,000. But given recent auction prices for Rolex, this timepiece will without a doubt go well into the millions. Elvis Presley’s Omega, also auctioned by Phillips and inscribed with the king of rock ’n’ roll’s name, recently fetched the highest price in history for an Omega at $1.8 million and had a starting estimate of just $54,000 to $100,700.
The Rolex Submariner will be sold with a letter signed by Janes that attests to its provenance along with photos from Rolex documenting its restoration and the book Steve McQueen: A Life in Pictures, which shows McQueen wearing the watch. It also comes with an extra Rolex Submariner glossy/gilt dial and a corresponding hand set, correct for its year of manufacture, so that it would appear exactly as it did when the actor wore it in 1964. The reference 5513 Rolex is the earliest McQueen-owned Submariner known and was gifted to Janes in the mid-to-late ’70s.
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