Among the personal belongings offered at Julien’s Auctions in 2016 was a small platinum wristwatch with a rectangular case framed in diamonds. It had belonged to Marilyn Monroe. How she came to own it remains unclear. Blancpain bought the watch for $225,000 and brought it back to Switzerland, where it entered the manufacture’s archive. WatchPro’s coverage of the 2016 auction
A decade later, Marilyn Monroe’s Blancpain watch became the starting point for the Ladybird Tribute. The manufacture unveiled the collection on 1 June 2026, the centenary of Monroe’s birth. Each of the seven watches carries a letter from her first name on the caseback. From the front, the connection is made through proportion. The narrow rectangular case, opaline dial and diamond-set links at either end recall the way the original jewellery watch sat on the wrist. Blancpain’s Ladybird Tribute collection
How Marilyn Monroe’s Blancpain Watch Returned to the Archive
Blancpain dates Monroe’s watch to the late 1940s or early 1950s. The auction catalogue recorded the platinum alloy stamp inside the case and the Blancpain Rayville Watch Co. signature on the movement. It was offered among pieces from the estate of Lee Strasberg, Monroe’s acting teacher. Those details establish part of the watch’s history. The circumstances of its original acquisition are still unknown. JCK’s account of the original watch and the collection
Provenance gives a collector a way to read a watch alongside the records it has left behind. The case stamp and movement signature speak to its manufacture, while the auction catalogue places it within a particular collection. A similar interplay between the object and its owner runs through the auction story of Andy Warhol’s Patek Philippe Calatrava. In Monroe’s case, the sale also brought the watch back to its maker, where it could inform a new design.
Art Deco Geometry in a 16 mm Case
The Ladybird Tribute measures 16 mm across, 35 mm in length and 6.5 mm in thickness. The elongated case draws the eye along the wrist. Baguette-cut diamonds follow its straight sides, while marquise cuts mark the change of direction at the ends. Within that frame, the pale opaline dial and yellow-gold hour markers keep the time display easy to pick out.
The new case is made from 18-carat white gold and set with 60 baguette-cut diamonds and two marquise-cut diamonds. Stones on the links, strap attachments and pin buckle bring the total to 85 diamonds weighing 1.36 carats. The setting continues beyond the dial, so a turn of the wrist reveals further points of light where the case gives way to the leather. JCK’s coverage of the diamond setting
On a watch this narrow, a few millimetres can change the balance between the dial and the strap. Blancpain has updated the materials and introduced colour while retaining the elongated silhouette that gives the original its character. It is a useful example of how proportion shapes timeless watch design. The relationship between the parts is what allows the design to move comfortably from one period to another.
Seven Letters and Seven Strap Colours
Blancpain made the Ladybird Tribute as seven unique watches. Their engraved casebacks spell M-A-R-I-L-Y-N when the pieces are brought together. Each watch has a double-wrap calfskin strap in a different colour developed with Pantone. The M is paired with Peach Bud, the A with High Risk Red, the R with Black Beauty and the I with Star White. Blancpain’s letter and colour pairings
Because the strap wraps twice around the wrist, colour occupies a larger part of the composition than it would on a conventional strap. High Risk Red gives the cool white gold a vivid surround. Black Beauty makes the pale dial and the line of diamonds more distinct. The letter, meanwhile, is tucked away on the reverse, where it comes into view when the watch is taken off.
Calibre 510 and the Mechanics of a Slim Case
The hours and minutes are driven by Blancpain’s hand-wound Calibre 510. Made up of 128 components, the movement is 2.60 mm thick, runs at 3 Hz and delivers a 52-hour power reserve. At this scale, the movement’s dimensions are part of the design. The slim calibre allows the watch to retain a low profile beneath the diamond setting, even when viewed from the side.
The watch has a sapphire crystal and is rated to 3 bar of water resistance. The reported US launch price was $54,300 per piece. The $225,000 recorded at auction in 2016 was paid for the original platinum watch from Monroe’s personal collection. Blancpain collection details and JCK’s launch price reporting
The VOGGIA Perspective
There is something fitting about a tribute whose dedication can only be read in full when all seven watches are together. Seen individually, each piece asks to be looked at the way one might look at the original, beginning with the narrow dial and following the diamonds out towards the strap. The engraved letter belongs to a more private moment, when the watch is off the wrist and turned over in the hand. That division gives the collection room to honour Monroe while preserving the intimacy of the object she wore.
