Sylvester Stallone is one of the most prolific watch collectors in Hollywood.
The 75-year-old ‘Italian Stallion’ has amassed a huge collection over the years, huge being the operative term: the buff action movie star certainly has a taste for big watches and arguably kicked off the watch world’s current obsession with larger case sizes, thanks to his boosting of Panerai since the mid-90s.
Indeed, he owns a lot of Panerais – he’s got so many he’s happy to give them away. He was even responsible for giving Arnold Schwarzenegger his first Panerai. But it seems these days the watch brand he’s most obsessed with is Rolex, with one model in particular forming the basis of his obsession: the GMT-Master ‘Pepsi’.
Of course, Stallone was wearing Rolexes before he was wearing Panerais: he famously wore a gold Submariner in the Rocky sequels. However, it’s the famous ‘Pepsi’ that really has his heart. Stallone owns numerous iterations of the coveted timepiece, so-nicknamed for its blue and red bezel (more on the history of the GMT-Master here).
The one he loves the most is his vintage GMT-Master I – the OG ‘Pepsi’ – which you can see him wearing whilst posing with his daughters above. He also took to Instagram last week to show us a close-up of the beauty (show below)… Although it would be nice if he invested in a phone with a halfway decent camera instead of buying so many watches.
On top of this vintage model, he also owns a newer, white gold GMT-Master II with a meteorite dial, which he was spotted wearing during an episode of his eldest two daughters’ podcast; plus yet another one, this time with a red and blue diamond bezel instead of the GMT-Master’s usual aluminium or Cerachrom inlay, which you can see him rocking during a catch-up with Dolph Lundgren (who happens to be wearing a Panerai). We wonder if Stallone put him on…
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Stallone really makes the normally chunky Rolex look rather small. The GMT-Master has never been a huge watch, its case size ranging from 38 to 40mm over the years, but on Stallone’s arms, it looks positively puny.
Interestingly, it’s his smallest, least flashy GMT-Master – the vintage one – that’s probably worth the most. Aftermarket customisations of any sort tend to devalue watches, even if they use boatloads of diamonds. The meteorite dial model is an exceptionally valuable piece, but an original GMT-Master ‘Pepsi’ in good condition or with desirable patina can easily fetch upwards of AU$80,000.
Although if he was ever to sell his watches, we can imagine the Sly Stallone connection might add a few thousand to the price…
Check out some other impressive watches in the big man’s collection in the video below.