Charles "Lucky" Luciano's Patek Philippe

Charles "Lucky" Luciano is considered the father of organized crime. He was an Italian-born gangster who started his criminal career in the Five Points gang and was instrumental in the development of the National Crime Syndicate. In 1936 Luciano was tried and convicted for running a prostitution racket. He was sentenced to 30-50 years in prison. Luciano’s sentence was commuted in 1946, after an agreement he struck with the Department of Navy through Meyer Lansky allowed him to provide naval intelligence. As part of his commutation, however, Luciano was deported to Italy. After his death in 1962, Luciano’s body was brought back to the United States for burial.

Luciano was known to have had an extensive watch collection. The Patek Ref. 1516 he owned, pictured above, was eventually given to Joseph Bonanno in Palermo, Italy, in 1957. If you haven’t heard of Joseph Bonanno, you should know that he became the boss of the Bonanno Crime family at 26 years old and was the the inspiration for the classic film "The Godfather." Luciano’s Patek Philippe was auctioned off first in 2009 for only $36,000 USD. 

An older Charles “Lucky” Luciano wearing a wristwatch, though it is difficult to determine the make and model.

With the rise in interest in mafia artifacts, and perhaps the notoriety Luciano gained when a fictionalized version of him became a main character in the hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire, the watch will likely continue to rise in price. Interestingly, in 2017, when a client of the Manhattan watch auctioneer Antiquorum sued the auction house claiming that the auction house still owed him $100,000 after a watch of his sold at auction for $300,000, the auction house handed over the Luciano watch, along with other items, as collateral.