In 2012, over a glass of wine at his Inglenook estate in Napa Valley, The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola posed an unusual question to his dinner guest: "Has anyone ever used a human hand to tell the time?"
Across the table sat François-Paul Journe, one of modern watchmaking’s most respected figures. The question gave him pause. Journe had pioneered new types of tourbillons, redefined wristwatch resonance, and solved some of horology’s most complex challenges – but never anything quite like this.
That conversation would inspire a seven-year journey that culminated in the F.P. Journe FFC Prototype: a platinum wristwatch featuring a sculpted, articulated hand that points to the hours. It remains the only model from the brand based on a concept proposed by someone other than Journe himself. One example was gifted to Coppola in 2021; the other remains in the watchmaker’s personal collection.
On 6 December, Coppola’s watch returned to the spotlight at Phillips’ Watch Auction XIII in New York, reportedly consigned to help ease the financial strain from his latest film venture. Estimated at US$1 million, the watch sold for nearly US$11 million with premium – setting new records as the most expensive F.P. Journe wristwatch ever sold, and the most valuable watch by an independent watchmaker in auction history.
Lot 17 | F.P. Journe | FFC Prototype | Property of Francis Ford Coppola (Auction record for F.P.Journe and for a watch by an independent watchmaker)
Manufactured circa 2021
Diameter: 42mm
Case Number: “Francis Ford Coppola”
Estimate: In excess of $1,000,000
Hammer Price: US$9,000,000
Sold: US$10,755,000
Auction House: Phillips New York
Sale: The New York Watch Auction: XIII
Date: 6 December 2025
“What Francis does creatively is jump off cliffs,” Star Wars director George Lucas once said of his longtime friend. “When you spend enough time with Francis, you begin to believe you can jump off cliffs, too.”
The connection between the Hollywood director and the horological innovator began years earlier. In 2009, Coppola’s late wife, Eleanor, gave him an F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance as a Christmas gift. Delighted by the piece, Coppola extended an invitation for Journe to visit him at his winery in Napa. During a three-day stay in 2012, their mutual curiosity about time, craftsmanship, and human expression found common ground.
The idea they pursued seemed impossible: how to represent twelve hours using just five fingers. One through five came naturally. But six through twelve demanded invention. Through countless iterations, they mapped a full twelve-hour cycle using only five moving digits – part automaton, part sculpture.
FFC Prototype (Left) | Chronomètre à Résonance (Right)
Francis Ford Coppola famously directed and co-wrote The Godfather Trilogy
Francis Ford Coppola, pictured in Rome, September 2025
François-Paul Journe, independent watchmaker
To bring this vision to life, Journe drew inspiration from an unlikely historical source. His muse was Ambroise Paré, the 16th-century French barber-surgeon often regarded as the father of modern surgery. Drawing on battlefield experience, Paré designed mechanical limbs to restore autonomy to wounded soldiers.
One of his most celebrated inventions was Le Petit Lorrain, a prosthetic hand made from iron and leather, with internal springs and gears that allowed the fingers to bend and grasp. Journe borrowed its form as the visual foundation for the FFC, giving the watch a medieval character. The hand, composed of overlapping metal plates, evokes the articulated gauntlet of an armored knight.
A guide to the hours display on the F.P.Journe FFC
Mechanically, the watch is built on Journe's proven Octa calibre 1300.3, chosen for its robust five-day power reserve and thin profile. To power the hand, he added a remontoir d’égalité – a constant-force mechanism that ensures steady energy flow. Once every hour, ten cams beneath the dial engage, shifting the fingers into their next position with precise, choreographed motion.
It took Journe seven years to translate the idea into a working watch that met his stringent standards for reliability, wearability, and elegance. The final movement measures just 8.1mm thick, maintaining the sleek proportions expected from the Octa platform.
Coppola's name is engraved on the watch's caseback
While the FFC entered limited production in 2023, fewer than a handful are made each year, reserved only for Journe's most dedicated collectors.
Before the Coppola prototype appeared at auction, the only publicly known example was the FFC Blue, a unique piece created for the Only Watch charity auction in 2021, which sold for CHF 4.5 million and set a then-record for the brand.
That record was surpassed in 2024, when Tourbillon Souverain à Remontoire d’Égalité, the second wristwatch Journe ever made, achieved CHF 7.32 million (US$8.3 million) at Phillips Geneva.
FFC Blue, a unique piece created for Only Watch 2021 | Sold for CHF 4.5 million
Tourbillon Souverain à Remontoire d’Égalité | Sold for CHF 7.32 million (US$8.3 million) at Phillips Geneva in 2024
The sale of the FFC prototype followed a difficult year for the filmmaker. In 2024, the director released Megalopolis, a long-gestating, self-financed sci-fi epic that reportedly cost over US$120 million to make. Despite premiering at Cannes – where Coppola wore the FFC on his wrist – the film earned just US$14.4 million worldwide.
To fund the project, Coppola sold two wineries and borrowed heavily. “I don’t have any money because I invested all the money that I borrowed to make Megalopolis,” he said in a March podcast interview. “It’s basically gone.”
By October 2025, he confirmed he was selling several watches – including the FFC – through Phillips to raise funds. While Megalopolis struggled at the box office, Coppola remained optimistic about its future, referencing Apocalypse Now as a film that eventually recouped its investment over time.
Movie poster for Megalopolis (2024)
Movie poster for Apocalypse Now (1979)
During the sale, the Journe Chronomètre à Résonance sold for US$584,200, while five additional treasured pieces from his collection brought between US$21,600 and US$91,400 each on 7 December. In total, the sales netted him approximately US$11.7 million.
Other highlights from Francis Ford Coppola's Watch Collection:
Lot 18 | F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance “FFC” | RN 40mm in Platinum, gifted to Francis Ford Coppola by his wife
Manufactured circa 2009
Diameter: 40mm
Case Number: No. 458-RN
Estimate: US$120,000 - 240,000
Hammer Price: US$460,000
Sold: US$584,200
Lot 82 | Blancpain Répétition Minutes, No. 1, in 18k white gold | Property of Francis Ford Coppola
Manufactured circa 2010
Diameter: 37 mm
Estimate: US$15,000 - 30,000
Hammer Price: US$72,000
Sold: US$91,440
Lot 81 | Patek Philippe | Ref. 5130G, World Time "Property of Francis Ford Coppola"
Manufactured circa 2008
Diameter: 39.5 mm
Case Number: 4'410’545
Estimate: US$15,000 - 30,000
Hammer Price: US$70,000
Sold: US$88,900