Thanks to a jeweler on the tiny island of Gozo, a British tabloid got all the clues it needed to break the story Monday of Angelina Jolie’s very special, $4 million wedding gift to Brad Pitt.
The Mirror reported that the jeweler was asked by a friend of the supercouple to inscribe the back of a rare 1952 Patek Philippe platinum chronometer with the phrase, “To Roly from Nessa." These just happen to be the names of the characters Pitt and Jolie play in their new movie, By the Sea. And, yes, they’re currently filming on the picturesque island of Gozo, just off the coast of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea.
“I did inscribe the watch. It was for Brad, and it was a rare one," George Farrugia of Dolindo Jewellers told The Mirror. "It was very valuable."
Farrugia’s assessment of “very valuable” may be just a bit of an understatement.
Back in November of 2012, a platinum 1952 Patek Philippe J.B. Champion Platinum Observatory Chronometer with a diamond-set dial was the top lot in a Christie’s Geneva auction, fetching a staggering $3.99 million.
Jolie’s wedding gift to Pitt is believed to be that watch.
Faced with the challenge of inscribing a $4 million watch, Farrugia was hardly flustered.
“I wasn’t nervous about the inscription because I knew I could do the work perfectly,” he told The Mirror.
Pitt and Jolie wed in France last month after nine years of dating. The Hollywood couple, sometimes known by the combined name, “Brangelina,” is said to have a combined wealth of $400 million.
The platinum watch revelation has put the international spotlight on Gozo, an island that is part of Malta. It has a population of 37,000 and its residents are called Gozitans. Gozo is a five-hour ferry ride from Sicily.
(Image top of page: Publicity photo from the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith.)
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