Robin Williams teaching a class in a scene from 'Dead Poets Society,' 1989 (photo Touchstone... [+] Pictures/Getty Images) On October 4, 2018 Sotheby’s New York auctioned a wide range of memorabilia collected by deceased comedian and actor Robin Williams and his film producer wife Marsha Williams in a sale called "Creating a Stage: The Collection of Marsha and Robin Williams." The collection included more than 300 pieces that included many pieces of fine art, film memorabilia (including awards and certificates), and items from the couple’s private hobbies and collecting interests – including 44 wristwatches (and one Panerai compass, making for a forty-fifth item in that category). As already noted in 44 Of Robin Williams’ Watches To Be Auctioned By Sotheby’s In October 2018, Williams seemed to be something of a horological aficionado with diverse, mature, and interesting taste in timepieces (not unlike comedian/actor Jerry Lewis, whose watch collection was featured in Jerry Lewis: Actor, Singer, Producer, Screenwriter . . . And Secret Watch Collector As This Auction Highlights). The quartz Hamilton watch worn by Robin Williams in 'Dead Poets Society' (photo courtesy Sotheby's) While the highest-selling single item in the auction was Adolf Wölfli’s masterpiece Der San Salvathor, which sold for $795,000, closely followed by a piece of modern street art from 2006 by Banksy called Happy Choppers (which sold for $735,000), all 45 of the timepiece items from Robin Williams’ personal collection sold for a total of $445,000 (doubling the high estimate). Including his quartz Hamilton watch from Dead Poets Society, which hammered for $32,500 – for about $5,000 more than his Mercedes-Benz to put it into perspective. It was engraved on the back with “Robin Williams Dead Poets Society1988.” Robin Williams' Franck Muller Minute Repeating Tourbillon Reference 6850 (photo courtesy Sotheby's) The highest-scoring wristwatch in the auction was the white gold tonneau-shaped Minute Repeating Tourbillon Wristwatch Reference 6850 by Franck Muller from approximately 1998 (Lot 125), which hammered for $52,500. The Urban Jürgensen Reference 3 once owned by Robin Williams: the great find of this Sotheby's... [+] auction (photo courtesy Sotheby's) Lot 119, an Ikepod Hemipode from about 2000, sold for $7,500 – perhaps spurred on by this brand’s very recent comeback under new ownership (see Ikepod: Just Another Mystical Phoenix-Burns-In-Fire-Then-Reborn-Better-Than-Ever Story. Except That This One Is True)? An Alain Silberstein triple calendar chronograph (lot 129) likewise sold for an astounding $7,500. The very rare Daniel Roth perpetual calendar (lot 146) hammered for a respectable $13,750. But perhaps most interesting watch lot was the Urban Jürgensen Reference 3 (lot 147), which not only illustrated Williams’ exquisite taste in rare watches, but also sold for a sum of $27,500 – the absolute steal of this auction in my opinion. Congratulations to that buyer. A portion of the proceeds from this auction went to benefit organizations championed by the Williams, including Human Rights Watch, the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, Challenged Athletes Foundation, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, and Wounded Warrior Project. Proceeds from the sale will also help establish a permanent Robin Williams Scholarship Fund at the Juilliard school in New York. Elizabeth Doerr is the editor-in-chief of Quill & Pad, an online publication that keeps a watch on time.
A watch worn by Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society has sold for $ 32,500 at Sotheby 's New York . The late Williams played inspirational English teacher John Keating in the 1989 movie . His quartz pocket watch — engraved with the words “ Robin Williams Dead Poets Society 1988”—was one of 44 watches sold among other memorabilia collected by the actor and his film producer wife , Marsha Williams . Proceeds from the Creating a Legacy : The Collection of Marsha and Robin Williams sale went to benefit projects supported by the couple and towards establishing a permanent scholarship fund at the Juilliard School .