Bao Dai spent most of his childhood in France for his education, and returned home to rule at the age of 18. By 20, he would marry and have both five children and five wives (three of whom he married while still married to his first wife). During World War II, when Japan invaded French Indochina, Bao Dai and his administration were persuaded by the occupying forces to declare independence from France.

After the Japanese surrendered, Ho Chi Minh (the leader of the nationalist Viet Minh coalition) convinced Bao Dai to abdicate the throne, citing his connections to Japan. However, Dai was granted a role as "supreme advisor" to Ho's Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The role did not last long, as the late 1940s were marked by great conflict in the region. Dai spent most of these years living in Hong Kong and Europe. In 1949 he was convinced to retake power by the French but this time not as emperor but rather "head of state."

In the spring of 1954, Bao Dai would attend the Geneva Convention to settle remaining issues from the conflicts of the Korean War and discuss further actions to be taken in Indochina. While little was done in regards to Korea, the Geneva Accord established two separate Vietnamese states: the northern zone governed by Viet Minh and the southern governed by the State of Vietnam, then led by Bao Dai. However, a referendum to establish a republic and remove him passed in 1955, and he would spend the remainder of his life abroad (mostly in France).

But before the Geneva Accord was established, Bao Dai did a little shopping. Seriously. While in Geneva for the negotiations that would eventually split his country in two, he stepped out of the Hotel des Bergues (now the Four Seasons, home of several important watch auctions) across the street to Chronometrie Philippe Beguin, a Rolex dealer. His request to the staff was simple.