Arnold Schwarzenegger experienced a three-hour detainment by customs officials in Germany for neglecting to declare a unique Audemars Piguet watch, bidding farewell to the ordeal with a resounding “hasta la vista.” The Terminator actor, en route to Austria to auction the luxury timepiece for charity, was apprehended at Munich Airport on Wednesday due to incomplete paperwork, as disclosed by a customs spokesperson to CBS News.
According to the source, Schwarzenegger was never prompted to fill out a declaration form but willingly agreed to pay the customs duty on the watch, totaling approximately $38,000 (€35,000). Complications arose when the airport card machine malfunctioned, and the amount exceeded the ATM limit while the bank was closed. Eventually, an alternative functioning machine was located, resolving the matter.
The former California governor was ultimately permitted to proceed with the watch, as reported by German tabloid BILD. The coveted timepiece is slated for auction on Thursday night at the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative’s charity dinner in Kitzbühel, commencing with a starting price of around $54,300 (€50,000).
As per auction documents detailed by the Daily Mail, the watch closely resembles the Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph, a collaboration between AP and Schwarzenegger earlier this year. The anniversary edition (Ref. 25770SN) pays homage to the “End of Days” model co-designed by Schwarzenegger and AP in 1999, featuring a 43 mm black ceramic case, a matching ceramic bezel, and a mega tapisserie dial with three subdials. Beneath the sapphire crystal lie white-gold hour markers, black nickel-coated hands with yellow luminescence, and a tachymeter scale.
The auctioned watch differs from the retail model with a unique caseback, showcasing a skeletonized movement with a gold rotor depicting Schwarzenegger’s iconic bodybuilder pose and the inscription “Arnold Classic.” In contrast, the original’s movement bears only the inscription “AP.” The auction literature specifies its exclusivity, being one of only 20 in existence, compared to the anniversary reference limited to 500 examples.
The Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative plans to disclose the auction results on its website at 11:30 p.m. on the same night.
