Nino Manfredi’s Rolex Oyster Perpetual, Ref. 6532, will also be included in the selection. Equipped with an exclusive black dial with gold lettering and the unmistakable ‘3-6-9’ indexes, a much sought-after variant; it was purchased by the actor to celebrate the birth of his second son Luca in 1958 and was worn ever since then ”almost as if it were a lucky charm, except when swimming in the sea,” as his son recalls, who will use the proceeds of the sale for a series of initiatives in memory of his father in the year of the centenary of his birth. 

“It was 27 December 1958 when my father decided to give himself a present while he was out of Rome shooting a film,” Luca Manfredi recalls. “That day, my mother Erminia, who was expecting me any day, slipped on the stairs of a beautiful building that had been highly polished by a zealous doorman and the blow to her back, which fortunately had no other consequences, caused her to go into labour. She was taken to hospital just in time, because a few minutes later I was born. The news reached my father, who decided to go into a watch shop and buy this simple but elegant Rolex to celebrate my arrival and my escape from danger. Manfredi never parted with it, not even on set, as evidenced by the film "Per Grazia Ricevuta", which won him the ‘Palme d'Or’ for best first film at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival. At auction with a starting price of 10,000 euros, the Rolex is accompanied by Luca Manfredi’s written authentication and a copy of his autographed book “Un friccico ner core - I 100 volti di mio padre Nino” published by Rai Libri (Lot 210).

Among the other top lots of the auction, is a rare Zenith El Primero Ref. G381 in gold dated 1970, the first Zenith chronograph with automatic winding (Lot 166, starting price 8,000 euros), a Breitling Navitimer Ref. 806 in gold, also from the 1970s, with the characteristic ring with slide rule (Lot 115, starting price 4,000 euros) and a Patek Philippe in rose gold sold in 1951, of which only about ten pieces are still known (Lot 206, starting price 7,000 euros). Instead, in the collection of pocket-watches, there is a gold Tiffany Hunter Case with massive case, split-second chronograph and minute repeater (Lot 203, Starting price 9,000 euros) and a high-epoch carriage clock (c.1740), extremely rare and in excellent condition, very sought-after by collectors (Lot 106, starting price 10,000 euros).

BROWSE THE CATALOGUE

AUCTION
Tuesday 13 April 2021, 4:30 pm
Hotel Mandarin Oriental, Via Andegari 9, Milan
VIEWING
By appointment, from 9 to 12 April 2021, 11:00 am – 19:00 pm (Sunday 11 closed)
Congress Centre Fondazione Cariplo (Cariplo Foundation Congress Centre), Via Romagnosi 8, Milan
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