Al Pacino wears a Rolex Datejust

Coppola and Puzo adapted the novel together, and Pacino was not anyone's first choice for Michael Corleone. Paramount wanted Robert Redford, Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson. Coppola fought for Pacino, who was 31 and had done exactly one notable film. The story is set between 1945 and 1955, and Michael begins it as a decorated Marine sitting at his sister's wedding in a uniform, telling his girlfriend Kay that his family's business has nothing to do with him.

On screen it is a gold dress watch on a gold bracelet, kept mostly in shadow by the film's low light. It is the watch most often identified with the film, a Rolex Datejust usually cited as the reference 1601, though the dial is never clear enough to rule out the Omega Constellation that a few writers prefer.