James Dean’s East of Eden lucky watch up for grabs

London: Late Hollywood actor James Dean’s lucky watch will be sold at an auction. The actor wore the watch throughout in his breakthrough movie East of Eden. The pocket watch is made of gold and has Dean’s initials on the cover. It is the same watch Dean wanted to wear during the shoot despite the objections of director Elia Kazan.

Dean bought the watch in 1951 from New York when he was a struggling actor. Dean, before his death in a car accident in 1955, gave the watch to his friend Tillie Starriet, who he had met during his early acting years in Los Angeles. The watch has now been handed over to British auction house ‘The Fame Bureau’ that specializes in music and film sales. “Not only did Dean attribute his success to the watch, but it also linked him to his father who gave him the chain for it,” James Wilkinson, from the auction house said. “The time is set at 5.43 – the time Dean was killed – but it does work,” Wilkinson added. “Being as it was, so close and dear to Dean, this watch is as much an American cinematic and cultural treasure as one can find – the ultimate collectable of the 1950s,” he further said. The watch is kept in a display case, attached to a pair of trousers, similar to the ones Dean wore in East of Eden, reports The Telegraph. The watch will be auctioned in London and may get sold for about 35,000 pounds. ANI