An awkwardly timed present

A gold Rolex watch believed given by Marilyn Monroe to the late President Kennedy, inscribed “Jack with love as always Marilyn May 29th 1962,” has been sold for $120,000, an auction house said Monday.

The watch was sold in Boston with a poem titled “A heartfelt plea on your birthday,” typed in black on a paper disk placed at the bottom of the gold case containing the watch. The two are rumored to have had an affair around that time.

Bill Panagopulos, founder of Connecticut-based auctioneer Alexander Autographs, said an American collector outbid a European for the watch and case. The gift was dated about the same time as Monroe’s seductive cooing of “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” at his 1962 party in New York.

Panagopulos said documentation showed the watch was handed down through the family of Kennedy’s late presidential aide Kenneth O’Donnell, and that the former president appeared uncomfortable with the gift.