Something doesn’t seem right here.  Just how many M​​onacos are going to come up for sale that were worn by Steve McQueen during the filming of LeMans​?  You see, one of them sold back in 2009 for $87,600 and now an auction house in California claims to have yet another one.  The strange thing about this one is it’s in practically mint condition, with the sticker on the caseback, with box, and papers saying it was sold to the movie!

What makes this sale even more odd is that the estimate for this watch is a patently absurd $200,000 – $300,000, with an opening bid of $200,000.  The description of this lot mentions McQueen’s Rolex that sold for $234,000, yet it conspicuously ignores the fact that another McQueen Monaco sold in the very same sale for a fraction of their current reserve price.

There are a lot of questions about this watch, and while it is certainly possible that McQueen wore more than one example of the Monaco during filming, the brobdingnagian reserve price of this one ​makes the whole thing a little suspect, don’t you think?

But hey, maybe we’re just being negative nillies here, and this is the TRUE McQueen Monaco.  Of course, we will have absolutely no way of knowing the truth, ever.  Which means neither will the prospective buyers.  Which means you are hedging a major bet if you think this watch is work 200 large.  ​

Written by Benjamin Clymer / hodinkee