In October of 2005, a gold Rolex Day-Date, commonly known as a Rolex President, sold at the Alexander Auction House in Greenwich, Connecticut for $120,000 dollars, breaking the house record. A stunning watch indeed, it was the historical ambiguity of the watch’s origins that drove up the selling price.
Purportedly, the gold Rolex President was given to John F. Kennedy by the iconic Marilyn Monroe on the evening the actress famously serenaded him, singing a sultry rendition of “Happy Birthday to You” on May 19, 1962, at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Inscribed with the words, “Jack, with love as always from Marilyn, May 29th 1962”, the watch was sold with a poem entitled: “A heartfelt plea on your birthday,” typed in black on a paper disc placed at the bottom of the gold case containing the gift. The date on the inscription corresponds with Kennedy’s birthday. However, even after garnering an exorbitant price at auction, many experts still question whether the watch is a real piece of history or an elaborate fake.
According to the story, Marilyn Monroe gave the watch to Kenneth O’Donnell, Kennedy’s aid, on the night of the celebration. Widely accepted to be having an affair, the watch was a gift from Monroe to President Kennedy. When Kenneth O’Donnell passed the watch on to J.F.K., Kennedy told him to “get rid of it,” according to a note that was sold with the watch.
The Rolex was put up for auction in 2005 and was expected to sell for between $40,000 and $60,000, a gross underestimate considering the final selling price of $120,000. Bill Panagopulos, founder of the auction house, explained the huge discrepancy: “It’s the hardest thing I ever had to estimate, historic relics, especially when there is a hint of scandal attached, defy any attempt by an auctioneer to estimate their selling price.”
The biggest question, when considering the watch’s valuation, is whether it is actually authentic. Rather than being sold by the O’Donnell family, Panagopulos said the Rolex President had been brought to him by an English citizen, “who describes his family as being prominent pawnbrokers for the upper classes.” According to Panagopulos, the watch’s serial number and engraving are appropriate for the time, and the history of the watch was confirmed by a family member of Kennedy’s former aide.
An ornate design on the top lid of the round gold case containing the Rolex shows two doves “kissing.” In the bottom of the case, there is a round piece of paper printed with the poem from Marilyn to her alleged lover. Titled “A heartfelt plea on your birthday,” the poem reads, “Let lovers breathe their sighs/And roses bloom and music sound/Let passion burn on lips and eyes/And pleasures merry world go round/Let golden sunshine flood the sky/ and let me love/ or let me die!”
Overall, the Rolex and its accompanying notes represent a dramatic course of events that will always be shrouded in speculation. Marilyn Monroe’s death, by a mysterious drug overdose in August 1962, and President Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963, means that the truth may never be known. The aide, Kenneth O’Donnell, who was given the watch in the story, passed away in 1977, and his family refuses to comment on the gold Rolex and its historical validity. It seems that whether or not the tale is true, the anonymous buyer of this Rolex President will never regret the timeless sophistication of this watch and the intrigue of its origins.
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