Arnold Schwarzenegger's watch raises £200,000 for charity after customs drama

The watch was one of the items being sold off for the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative - where £1.12 million was raised in total
Arnold Schwarzenegger
PA Wire
Charlotte McLaughlin19 January 2024
The Weekender

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Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger has sold a watch for more than £200,000 at auction for charity after he was stopped at a German airport because of the luxury item.

Earlier this week, the politician and star of The Terminator films, 76, was held for hours at Munich Airport during routine checks on the Audemars Piguet watch.

He was transporting the watch in order to auction it off for The Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative.

On Friday, the group said the watch sold for 270,000 euros (£231,638) in Kitzbuehel, Austria on Thursday.

In total, the sales, which also included artworks, jewellery, a personal training session with Schwarzenegger, a concert with a German band The BossHoss and a day on the set of the German-Austrian series Bergdoktor, raised 1.31 million euros (£1.12 million).

Schwarzenegger said: “People often ask me how I can maintain a smile when considering our environment.

“It’s simple: amidst the ongoing fight against pollution, I also witness the progress that has been achieved. We have come a long way. Today, so many people are here to be part of the solution.

“We all must give back and change the world. Today, our supporters have played a role in creating a cleaner and healthier future. I extend my gratitude to everyone who has joined my fight against pollution.”

German tabloid Bild reported that the allegedly undeclared watch was valued at about 20,000 euros (£17,129) by Schwarzenegger and was specially produced for him by Swiss manufacturer Audemars Piguet.

The Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative previously said the actor “co-operated at every step even though it was an incompetent shakedown” and that he agreed to “prepay potential taxes on the watch (remember, it is his personal watch)”.

Goods over the value of 430 euros (£368) that will stay in the European Union have to be declared and, where appropriate, duty paid on them.

A customs penalty body in Augsburg, Germany will evaluate the case.

Schwarzenegger, a former Republican Party governor of California, has long campaigned on the environment.

He began the Austrian World Summit climate conference, which he organises with former Austrian politician Monika Langthaler, and has vowed to “terminate pollution”.

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