Pope Francis' Swatch Watch Coming to Auction With All Proceeds Going To Charity

By Charlie Dunne

A few months back, I spoke with Eric Wind about a special watch: a Swatch donated by Pope Francis to a non-profit foundation located in his home state of Wisconsin. Based in Green Bay, the Brian LaViolette Scholarship Foundation began in 1992 after the tragic passing of Brian LaViolette at the age of 15 years in a swimming accident. The LaViolette family would go on to pay tribute to Brian’s life by offering over 1,000 scholarships to deserving college-bound students in Northeastern Wisconsin, the United States, and other parts of the world.

“The importance of time is not lost on our family and we feel what we do with this time on earth is important by giving back and honoring others.” Kim LaViolette Mosteller, Executive Director of the Brian LaViolette Foundation, would share in correspondence. “The concept of the “Once Upon a Time Watch Project” revolved around Brian LaViolette’s passion for watches and an opportunity to raise funds for the Scholarship Foundation that bears his name for future generations to come. When dreaming up the idea of the Watch Project we thought of who the ‘Holy Grail’ of watch donors could be. We felt it should be someone who was admired for the goodness in their heart and their good deeds to others.”

The LaViolette family would soon decide upon a very ambitious, yet ultimately fitting hypothetical donor. “We kept coming back to one individual, His Holiness Pope Francis. Yet, we realized Pope Francis would be a difficult leader to reach.”

It would turn out that Brian’s childhood best friend, Austin Rios, had become an Episcopal priest and over the past decade had been serving in Rome, Italy. During Rios’ time in Rome, he had met Pope Francis on several occasions and had developed connections with religious leaders in the Vatican.

This particular example is distinguished by the fact it is available for the public to bid on in Rago / Wright Auction’s forthcoming November watch auction.

“Austin literally “opened the gates of the Vatican“ and got things started with a simple conversation, that lead to another, and another” Brian’s father Doug would describe. “After the Vatican validated the purity of the Foundation’s mission, they recommended that Green Bay’s Bishop make the request to Pope Francis. This ultimately led us to our friend Mike Calawerts, who connected us with Bishop David Ricken, the Bishop of the Green Bay, Wisconsin. A few months later, Doug would describe the arrival of a simple Swatch Watch once owned by His Holiness arriving in Green Bay, Wisconsin bringing the family to tears.

“Our logo is special to us. Brian is represented by the white figure and the spirit he left behind. The other three figures symbolize Doug, Renee and Kim LaViolette who established the foundation in Brian's name and memory in 1992. The wave below represents the Bay of Green Bay where Brian drowned. Three steps in the wave are the steps filled with hope by the LaViolette family and the journey to higher education for our scholarship recipients.”

In addition to the donation of Pope Francis’ Swatch watch, several timepieces have been donated to the charitable auction including examples previously owned by Terry Bradshaw, Randall Park, Fred Savage Bart Starr, Mike Krzyzewski, Tony Shalhoub, Condoleezza Rice, Jerry Lewis, Priscilla Presley, Admiral McRaven, Eric Wind, Dick Vitale, Ronny Chieng, Aly and AJ Michalka, Mason Crosby, Jan Stenerud, and many others.

Like many young teenagers, Brian’s enthusiasm for watches was just developing. His last timepiece, a Swatch from the early 90s, can be seen on his father’s wrist frequently.

“There is nothing quite like wearing it!” LaViolette would reply when asked about his son’s Swatch watch on his wrist. “Brian saved his hard-earned money to buy this Swatch watch and he loved wearing it. It brings me closer to him every time I wear it.”

The vintage Swatch would return to use nearly three decades after Brian’s passing. “After Brian’s watch collection sat dormant in his bedroom dresser drawer for 28 years, it’s hard to describe the feeling I had when I saw that his entire watch collection running for the very first time in almost three decades.” LaViolette would describe his son’s timepieces as a reminder of Brian. “Every time I wear one of his watches it brings such joy into my life. As I see it ticking on my wrist, it’s like a part of Brian is still alive and spending the day with me, it’s such an amazing feeling.”

*Left to Right – Richard Wright, Doug LaViolette, Emilie Sims, Eric Wind, Josh Hendizadeh and Mike Calawerts taken at the Rago Wright Auction House in Chicago*

“There were so many people involved and we can’t thank them enough for the time and energy they put into making this life-changing donation possible. We wish we could personally thank Pope Francis for providing such validation for what Brian’s Foundation has accomplished the last 30 years…the donation of his watch has provided not only encouragement, but has propelled the Watch Project forward to help us continue our mission to honor hard work and community service.” - Kim LaViolette Mosteller.

To learn more about the Brian LaViolette Scholarship Foundation, visit their website: https://www.briansjourney.com/.

To learn about The Watch Project and donors, visit: https://www.briansjourney.com/watch-project.

To register to bid in the “Once Upon a Time Watch Project” visit: https://www.ragoarts.com .