Sylvester Stallone's Watches: The 2024 Sotheby's Sale, Panerai and What He Wore on Screen
Sylvester Stallone's watch record is better documented at auction than on screen. Sotheby 's sold 11 watches from his collection in New York on June 5, 2024 for a combined $6.7 million, and Phillips sold a Panerai he wore in Daylight for $214,200 in December 2020. This guide separates what those auction houses and outlets document from what is only repeated: the famous Panerai origin story, the watches in his action films and the pieces seen in Tulsa King. All prices are in US dollars, so no conversion is needed.
The short answer
Confirmed : Sotheby's sold all 11 of his watches on June 5, 2024 for $6.7 million, led by a Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime 6300G-010 at $5.4 million, and his Daylight Panerai 5218-201/A sold at Phillips for $214,200 on December 12, 2020. The popular story of how he found Panerai is disputed, and for most of his films we found no sourced watch identification.
Who wears what: quick reference
| Character (actor) | Watches |
|---|---|
| Documented collection and the 2024 sale(Sotheby's New York, June 5, 2024) | Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime; Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 “Bronzo”; Cartier Pasha Seatimer; Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon 50th Anniversary; Patek Philippe Nautilus, olive green dial, diamond bezel; Rolex Day-Date, 2016 pink gold |
| Panerai(1990s to 2020) | Panerai Luminor “Pre-Vendome”, steel, 44 mm; Panerai Luminor Submersible “Piece Unique”, 18k yellow gold, 47 mm; Richard Mille RM 25-01 Tourbillon Chronograph Adventure |
| On screen(Only what is sourced) | Panerai Luminor 5218-201/A; Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 “Bronzo” PAM00382; Richard Mille RM 032; Black Panerai Luminor, said to be a Marina Militare; Blacked-out Panerai Luminor 1950 Regatta |
| Tulsa King(Dwight Manfredi) | No documented watch |
How we label the evidence
Confirmed means a costume designer, prop department, the brand or the show itself said so, or multiple reputable outlets agree and cite a source. Reported means a single reputable outlet or database reports it. Community-identified means fans identified it from screenshots in a cited community thread, which we flag as unverified. We leave out other fan speculation, and where sources disagree we say so. All prices are in US dollars and are indicative; check current listings before buying.
Documented collection and the 2024 sale (Sotheby's New York, June 5, 2024)
Sotheby's offered 11 watches as “Property From the Collection of Sylvester Stallone” in its Important Watches sale. National Jeweler, Galerie and JustCollecting all report the total as $6.7 million against a $6 million high estimate, with every lot sold. National Jeweler adds that six of the 11 sold online and that all but one lot beat its estimate. We could read prices for only some lots, so the table below says which are single-source.
| Watch | Reference | Evidence | Where it's documented | Price (US) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime | 6300G-010 | Confirmed | Top lot, estimate $2.5M to $5M. National Jeweler and JustCollecting report it as the first 6300G sold at auction; National Jeweler says a private collector from Asia bought it. Forbes reported before the sale that Stallone had never worn it and that it was still in its sealed packaging | $5.4M (Sotheby's New York, June 5, 2024) |
| Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 “Bronzo” | PAM00382 | Confirmed | Sotheby's catalogue says he wore it in The Expendables 2 and as a daily watch. Numbered 0000 of a 1,000-piece edition launched in 2011, estimate $30,000 to $60,000 | $96,000 (June 5, 2024) |
| Cartier Pasha Seatimer | W301970M | Reported | Estimate $15,000 to $30,000. One outlet (Galerie) gives the result | $66,000 (June 5, 2024) |
| Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Tourbillon 50th Anniversary | 26730OR.OO.1320OR.01 | Reported | Estimate $100,000 to $200,000. One outlet (National Jeweler) gives the result | $228,000 (June 5, 2024) |
| Patek Philippe Nautilus, olive green dial, diamond bezel | 5711/1300A-001 | Reported | Estimate $200,000 to $400,000. One outlet (National Jeweler) gives the result | $492,000 (June 5, 2024) |
| Rolex Day-Date, 2016 pink gold | 228235 | Community-identified | Estimate $25,000 to $50,000. A single blog (The Slender Wrist) gives a $96,000 result and an engraving of “Sly”. We could not confirm either from a second source | Estimate $25,000 to $50,000 (result unconfirmed) |
Four more lots were estimated but we found no result: a Patek Nautilus 5711/1A-010, a Piaget Polo Grande P10623, a Panerai Slytech chronograph PAM00202 and a Panerai Luminor 1950 Regatta PAM00332. Time+Tide says the Regatta was not a Stallone special edition. Conflicts: National Jeweler reports five bidders on the Chime in a contest of about four minutes, while Galerie says more than 200 bidders, and Galerie calls it ref. 5175, which does not match the 6300G-010 in Sotheby's catalogue and three other outlets. Spear's gives different estimates for the Day-Date and Nautilus in its text and captions. We could not open the Hollywood Reporter or South China Morning Post coverage. Time+Tide quotes Stallone as saying, “Looking at these watches, I feel truly lucky to have owned them.”
Panerai (1990s to 2020)
His name is tied to Panerai more than to any other brand, and the strongest documentation is an auction. Phillips sold the Luminor he wore in Daylight at its Racing Pulse sale in New York on December 12, 2020. How he came to the brand is where accounts split.
| Watch | Reference | Evidence | Where it's documented | Price (US) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panerai Luminor “Pre-Vendome”, steel, 44 mm | 5218-201/A (case no. 0764) | Confirmed | Phillips calls it the exact watch he wore throughout Daylight (1996), on its original sharkskin strap, with a signed note and a signed lobby card. Phillips says 677 of the reference were made and quotes Stallone as saying it “went through hell in every scene” | $214,200 against a $40,000 to $80,000 estimate (Phillips New York, December 12, 2020) |
| Panerai Luminor Submersible “Piece Unique”, 18k yellow gold, 47 mm | PAM00269 (2006) | Confirmed | Sotheby's says it was made for Stallone in 2006 and carries “Special Edition for Sly”. Estimate $30,000 to $60,000. One blog gives a $90,000 result; Sotheby's page hides the result behind a login, so we leave the price out | Not confirmed |
| Richard Mille RM 25-01 Tourbillon Chronograph Adventure | Edition of 20 | Confirmed | Phillips says it came from a conversation between Stallone and Richard Mille about what watch John Rambo would wear. It is a collaboration piece, not a watch from a film. Estimate $250,000 to $500,000; we found no result | Estimate $250,000 to $500,000 (result not found) |
The popular story says he walked into an Italian shop while filming Daylight and bought a Panerai. Accounts vary on the city: Perezcope quotes a note from him saying he bought it in Rome, DMarge says a boutique in Italy, and Gear Patrol and a retailer blog say a Florence shop. Phillips's head of watches called him widely recognised for having launched Panerai's popularity worldwide, which is an auction-house claim. An independent blog, Perezcope (December 23, 2020), disputes the story. It says photos show him wearing a Luminor in December 1994 and March 1995, credits a photographer named Monty Shadow with the introduction, and describes a product-placement deal behind a “Slytech Panerai” line, with four watches delivered in Rome on September 25, 1995. It cites a book and interviews we could not check, and it is one source, so we mark the origin as unresolved. Forbes says the Daylight watch led to the Sly Tech limited editions; we found no Panerai statement on this.
On screen (Only what is sourced)
Most of his famous films have no sourced watch identification in what we could read. We found no watch named for Rocky, First Blood, Cliffhanger or Judge Dredd, so we say nothing about them. The entries below are the ones with a source, with the weakest marked.
| Watch | Reference | Evidence | Where it's documented | Price (US) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panerai Luminor 5218-201/A | Daylight (1996) | Confirmed | Auction house and Stallone's own signed lobby card, per Phillips | See Panerai above |
| Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 “Bronzo” PAM00382 | The Expendables 2 | Confirmed | Sotheby's catalogue, reported by Time+Tide and Forbes | $96,000 (June 5, 2024) |
| Richard Mille RM 032 | The Expendables 3 | Confirmed | Phillips press release, photo caption from a London photocall: the watch “worn in the film”. One of four Richard Mille lots in the 2020 sale; we found no result | Estimate $60,000 to $120,000 per Gear Patrol (result not found) |
| Black Panerai Luminor, said to be a Marina Militare | Rambo (2008) | Uncertain | A Blog To Watch (February 4, 2008) matched it by sight and calls the identification approximate. No production source | N/A |
| Blacked-out Panerai Luminor 1950 Regatta | The Expendables (2010) | Uncertain | Professional Watches names it from the film poster. It does not tie the watch to a scene | N/A |
Off screen, two blogs say he bought a gold Rolex Submariner in 1976 with his Rocky earnings. The Slender Wrist and Perezcope agree on the year but we did not find a primary source, and the watch was not in the 2024 sale as far as we could read. A retailer blog says he wore a Submariner in the early 1980s Rocky period; we treat that as unconfirmed.
Tulsa King (Dwight Manfredi)
His character is linked to a yellow-gold Piaget Polo, a Rolex Day-Date and other watches, all identified by outlets from freeze-frames, not by the production. We keep that evidence in our Tulsa King watches guide rather than repeat it here.
Two cautions. A Piaget Polo Grande and a Rolex Day-Date 228235 were in the 2024 sale, but we found no source saying either is a watch seen in the show. And one outlet's suggestion that a Day-Date or GMT-Master on the show “likely” came from his own collection is an inference, not a documented fact.
Context: reading the sources
Auction text is promotional. Sotheby's and Phillips write the lot descriptions and press releases that most outlets repeat, including claims such as the Daylight Panerai being a “genesis” watch. They are reliable for the reference, estimate and result. They are less reliable for brand history.
Results come from different outlets. Only a few of the 11 lots have a price in more than one outlet. We label the rest as reported or unconfirmed, and National Jeweler does not say whether its figures include the buyer's premium.
Related guides. For other famous wearers see the famous people watches hub, and for the brand see Panerai.
Myths and mix-ups, corrected
- “The Panerai he wore in Daylight was in the 2024 Sotheby's sale.” It was sold by Phillips in December 2020. One 2024 preview (Spear's) blurs the two; the Sotheby's Panerai lots were different watches.
- “He found Panerai by chance in a shop.” That is the commonly told story, but an independent blog disputes it with dated photos and interviews. We could not verify either side.
- “The watches in Tulsa King are the ones he sold.” We found no source linking any lot in the 2024 sale to a watch on the show.
- “He wore a Rolex in every action film.” We found no sourced watch for Rocky, First Blood, Cliffhanger or Judge Dredd. The sourced screen watches are Panerai and Richard Mille.
Sources
National Jeweler (June 6, 2024), Galerie, JustCollecting, Time+Tide, Forbes Australia and Spear's for the 2024 Sotheby's sale; Sotheby's lot page for PAM00269; Phillips lot page and press release (November 10, 2020) for the Daylight Panerai; Perezcope, A Blog To Watch, Professional Watches, Gear Patrol and The Slender Wrist for the rest. We could not open the Hollywood Reporter, South China Morning Post or Panerai's own release, and we did not verify the claims in the Perezcope article.
Frequently Asked Questions
What watches did Sylvester Stallone sell at Sotheby's?
Eleven watches on June 5, 2024, for a combined $6.7 million. The top lot was a Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime 6300G-010 at $5.4 million.
What Panerai did Stallone wear in Daylight?
A steel Luminor 5218-201/A, per Phillips. It sold for $214,200 at Phillips New York on December 12, 2020.
Did Stallone start the Panerai craze?
Phillips and several outlets say so, but an independent blog disputes how he found the brand. We treat the origin as unresolved.
What watch did Stallone wear in The Expendables 2?
A Panerai Luminor Submersible 1950 Bronzo PAM00382, per Sotheby's. It sold for $96,000 on June 5, 2024.
What watch does Stallone wear in Tulsa King?
Outlets identify a yellow-gold Piaget Polo among others, but not from the production. See our Tulsa King watches guide.
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