Sotheby’s Selling Al Capone’s Diamond-Studded Patek Philippe

By Rob Bates | May 23, 2025

Sotheby’s is offering a diamond-studded Patek Philippe platinum pocket watch that was owned—and blinged out—by famed gangster Al Capone.

The watch carries an $80,000–$160,000 estimate in Sotheby’s Important Watches auction, to be held June 10 in New York City.

One of most high-profile mob bosses of the Prohibition era, Capote was known for his flamboyant style: three-piece suits, wool overcoats, and, occasionally, premium watches. A Sotheby’s statement said that Capone’s descendants don’t know where he purchased the Patek, but they believe he discarded its original “plain” case and commissioned a custom one made from solid platinum.

The pocket watch’s dial features an “open face” design with Breguet numerals and the period-correct “long signature,” though the dial is aged and its minute hand is missing. Its reverse side contains 90 single-cut diamonds spelling out the initials AC within a circle.

(Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s)