While films have fuelled the adoration of some already beloved models, many watches have become icons thanks to the silver screen, becoming models worn by celebrities and coveted by all.
The cult of the Rolex in films
Much more than just an accessory, the Rolex is among the most iconic watches used in the seventh art to typify successful, strong, ambitious characters with a passion for adventure, while maintaining an elegant and sophisticated style.
It is not surprising, therefore, that it should have graced the wrist of James Bond, first described by Ian Fleming in the famous spy novels and then played on screen by Sean Connery: the Oyster Perpetual Submariner appeared in cinemas in 1962 in “Dr. No” in a black and silver version. This model would accompany 007's exploits in other chapters of the series, such as “From Russia with Love”, “Goldfinger” and “Thunderball”. After Connery, James Bond was also played by George Lazenby followed by Roger Moore, both of whom wore Rolex in their performances as 007, testifying to the relationship between a character who had become an icon, and a brand that perfectly embodies success and adventure.
The Rolex Day-Date in yellow gold is worn by Tom Cruise in one of his unforgettable characters, Charlie Babbitt, the successful car salesman and co-star in “Rain Man”, which won the Oscar for best film in 1998. Not to mention the vintage Rolex Datejust worn by Matthew McConaughey, aka Mark Hannah, at the famous lunch with Leonardo di Caprio, who plays the starring role of Jordan Belfort in “The Wolf of Wall Street”.
And no list of iconic watches worn by famous celebrities would be complete without the model most coveted by collectors, the Rolex Daytona which Paul Newman, having received it as a gift from his wife in 1969, helped make famous. The Hollywood legend and style icon never parted with his watch, so much so that the Rolex “Paul Newman” Daytona now bears his name.
Famous films and stylish watches: a journey through models and titles
Besides Rolex, however, the film industry also boasts numerous collaborations with other leading wristwatch brands. Together with the Rolex Datejust worn by Matthew McConaughey, the watches that appear in “The Wolf of Wall Street” are each one more iconic than the last.
The gold-plated Tag Heuer 1000 Professional with a black dial worn on the wrist of Jordan Belfort (played by Di Caprio) begins to mark the character's success and professional rise, culminating with a solid 18k gold Tag Heuer 2000 with baguette diamonds on the bezel and pointers and a blue sapphire at 12 o'clock on the bezel.
Tag Heuer and Leonardo di Caprio sealed their collaboration in the film “Inception”, where the main character is accompanied in all kinds of extreme environment by the Tag Heuer Carrera Automatic.
The same success was achieved by the pairing of Tag Heuer and Ryan Gosling - the brand's current ambassador - who, in the eccentric and extravagant role of Ken in “Barbie”, got to wear no fewer than three vintage models from the Swiss maison at the same time: the Tag Heuer ref. 1158 CHN, and model ref. 2448 on the right wrist and the Tag Heuer ref. 110.515 on the left wrist, all paired with a look characterised by a white fur coat, pouch and bandanna, in perfect Eighties style.
Among the watches of famous film personalities, a special mention goes to the films of the Marvel series “Doctor Strange”, in which the superhero played by Benedict Cumberbatch has a special emotional relationship with his extraordinary Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Perpetual, a watch that plays a real role in the plot of the film.
Continuing in the vein of strong characters and their characterisation using watches, we must mention Hamilton, one of the brands with the greatest presence on the silver screen, so much so that it deserves the epithet “the Movie Brand”. In “Oppenheimer”, Christopher Nolan’s latest Oscar-winning film, the lead character, J. Robert Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy, wears three iconic vintage models: Cushion B, Endicott and Lexington, identified thanks to painstaking research carried out by the production unit among Hamilton collectors worldwide. Going back in time, the extraordinary watches from “2001: A Space Odyssey” also bear the Hamilton signature, futuristic timepieces put into production 40 years later.
Film, watches and feminine charm
As we have seen, the liaison between films and timepieces often involves male characters, but there is no shortage of examples of watches that have made history and been worn by famous Hollywood actresses on the silver screen.
Going back to 1932, we find the first appearance of a Hamilton watch on the silver screen: in “Shanghai Express”, an amazing Marlene Dietrich wears a Hamilton Flintridge and a Hamilton Piping Rock. In “Interstellar”, which won the Oscar for best special effects, Murphy Cooper, played by Jessica Chastain, wears a watch developed especially by Hamilton for the film, in which time plays a central role.
The world of jewelled watches plays in a league of its own, in which the undisputed star is the Serpente Tubogas bracelet by Bulgari which appears in several cult films on the wrists of actresses like Ira Von Fürstenberg in “The Fifth Cord”, Whitney Houston in “Waiting to Exhale” and Carol Alt in “To Rome with Love” by Woody Allen. The watch that Sylvester Stallone aka Rocky Balboa gives his wife Adriana in the fourth chapter of the boxer’s saga is a Serpente Tubogas too.
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