Rolex gift from Marilyn Monroe to JFK sells for $120,000

[paineinthearse]

See the images at http://marisolecitosuiteofmarilynmonroe.com/happybirthday.html

"Happy birthday, happy birthday, to you"

From the AP.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2005/10/18/rolex_gift_from_marilyn_monroe_to_jfk_sells_for_120000/

Rolex gift from Marilyn Monroe to JFK sells for $120,000

October 18, 2005

GREENWICH, Conn. --A watch that Marilyn Monroe gave President Kennedy the night she famously sang "Happy Birthday" to him fetched $120,000 at an auction this weekend. The gold Rolex is inscribed: "Jack, With love as always from Marilyn May 29th 1962."

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Monroe is believed to have given the watch to Kennedy aide Kenneth O'Donnell, who passed it on to Kennedy, Panagopulos said. But when Kennedy saw it, he told O'Donnell to "get rid of it," according to a note that was sold with the watch, Panagopulos said.The watch had been expected to sell for between $40,000 to $60,000. "It's the hardest thing I ever had to estimate," Panagopulos said. "Historic relics, especially when there is a hint of scandal attached, defy any attempt by an auctioneer to estimate their selling price."

The watch case also contains a poem, written on a small piece of paper, 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!"

Monroe overdosed on sleeping pills and died two months later.

From the local paper.

http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/local/scn-gt-watch4oct18,0,3372330.story?coll=green-news-local-headlines

Marilyn Monroe's gift to JFK nets $120,000

By John Nickerson
Staff Writer

October 18, 2005

A whiff of the illicit surrounding a gold Rolex watch purportedly offered to President Kennedy by Marilyn Monroe sent two bidders vying intensely over the timepiece during a Greenwich auction this past weekend. The watch, presented to Kennedy on the evening Monroe breathlessly sang to him "Happy Birthday, Mr. President," was expected to fetch $40,000 to $60,000. It did far better.

By the time a European businessman and East Coast collector finished bidding, the winning offer skyrocketed to $120,000, said Bill Panagopulos, founder of the Alexander Autographs auction house in Cos Cob. Panagopulos said he was surprised by the large winning bid, which was two to three times what he estimated its selling price would be last week. "It's the hardest thing I ever had to estimate," Panagopulos said yesterday. "Historic relics, especially when there is a hint of scandal attached, defy any attempt by an auctioneer to estimate their selling price."

The watch took the highest bid at the auction, which catalogued 1,600 items, Panagopulos said. Brought to him by a English citizen, "who describes his family as being prominent pawnbrokers for the upper classes," the watch bears an engraved inscription on the back that reads, "Jack, With love as always from Marilyn May 29th 1962."

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 a poem from Marilyn to her alleged lover. It's 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!" Panagopulos said he believed the watch was given by Monroe to Kennedy's closest aide, Kenneth O'Donnell, who was to pass it along to the president. But when Kennedy saw it, he told O'Donnell to "get rid of it," according to an unintelligibly signed letter that was sold with the watch, Panagopulos said.

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