Schwarzenegger’s special Audemars Piguet watch, which he failed to declare, auctioned for over $400,000
Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzengger made headlines after he was detained for about three hours by customs officers at Munich Airport in Germany on Wednesday for failing to declare an expensive Audemars Piguet watch.
Specially made for the 76-year-old star of the Terminator film franchise (1984 to 2019) by the luxury Swiss watchmaker, the bespoke watch was due to be auctioned off for a fund-raising dinner on Thursday evening in aid of his eco charity, the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative.
With an opening bid of 50,000 euros (S$73,000), the 43mm black ceramic Audemars Piguet Arnold Classic Watch ended up fetching 293,000 euros at the auction held at the Stanglwirt resort in Austria.
Pleased with the results, Schwarzenegger cracked jokes about his detention in Munich, saying customs officers tried to look for a second watch but failed because he had hidden it “where the sun don’t shine”.
According to the Bild daily, the American-Austrian actor was charged 35,000 euros, including 4,000 euros in tax and 5,000 euros in penalty for not declaring the prized Audemars Piguet.
Well-known for his love of timepieces, the retired body-building icon and former governor of California has had several collaboration with Audemars Piguet over the years. It began with a limited edition Royal Oak Offshore (Reference 25770SN) which he wore in the 1999 action horror film End Of Days.
In an interview with several publications including The Straits Times in Dubai in 2023, former chief executive Francois-Henry Bennahmias - who left the brand after 30 years in December 2023 - told the story of how the End Of Days collaboration came to be.
“We were having lunch at Arnold’s office in Malibu; he was supposed to buy watches. There were watches on the table and he was supposed to choose. There were security guards around us and he said, ‘What are we doing here? This is bulls**t. I don’t care about this’.
“And I said, ‘Are you shooting a movie?’. He said, ‘Yes. End Of Days.’ And I said, ‘Could we do something where you put the watch in the movie? We will create a special edition and we will raise money for a foundation.’ And he said, ‘I love this, okay.’ That was how the whole thing started,” said Mr Bennahmias.
The collaboration fuelled a craze for the Royal Oak Offshore which has not abated. Since then, there have been more than 10 collaborations between the watchmaker and the action star, including the T3 (2003), All Stars (2007) and The Legacy (2011).
Last year, Audemars Piguet released the Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph End Of Days, which pays tribute to the original released in 1999.
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