From Rihanna rocking a rare Rolex while debuting her pregnancy bump to Lewis Hamilton wearing three IWCs in protest against F1’s no-jewellery policy, 2022 has fired watch culture deeper into the zeitgeist
The weird and wonderful watch universe can sometimes feel like a vortex spinning with technical info and IYKYK details impenetrable to an outsider. You’d be forgiven for having little interest in disappearing down said whirlpool, but recently celebrity watch spotting has brought horology into the mainstream. Clocking a major piece – Jay-Z wore what? – has become a minor celeb-watching pastime, as well as a gateway into the world of serious collecting. And it doesn’t have to be expensive, or difficult to fathom (see Andrew Garfield wearing an Omega De Ville Prestige to the SAG Awards). Indeed, 2022 has been the year in which watches have embedded themselves into the cultural conversation. Name a major moment when watches weren’t present (we’ll wait). Here, for your reading pleasure, are some of the most significant watch spots of 2022.
Karwai Tang1/21Tom Holland and Zendaya are watch couple goals
Tom Holland and Zendaya’s complementing Patek Philippes – Aquanaut (him) and rose-gold Nautilus (her) – shows that true young, cool and wealthy love isn’t about raiding each other’s wardrobes. It’s actually about raiding each other’s watch collections. Next time, Tom, let’s see you donning one of Zendaya’s Cartier Panthères please.
2/21Who wore it best – Ryan Reynolds or Donald Glover?
By it, we mean the Apple Watch, which might just be the ideal LA timepiece. Looks good and lets you count your steps while you’re walking for a chai at Go Get Em Tiger. Worn in two very different ways by two big names, there aren’t many watches that can equally match Ryan Reynolds in a Bode shirt before a late night taping, and Donald Glover, shirtless, yellow short shorts, pensive. Next year’s must have? The Ultra.
3/21Major Audemars Piguet Royal Oak under the hammer
AP’s RO hit the big 5-0 this year and duly celebrated with numerous releases, events and tributes, such as the Phillips auction house sale dedicated to the iconic watch. Among the lots was a 1994 white-gold Royal Oak (66746BC) graced with pavé dial and diamond- and emerald-set bracelet in a style one could hardly imagine coming out of the AP factory today. At 26 mm, this watch is nearly 10 mm less in diameter than the smallest Royal Oak currently offered by the brand and speaks to the growing tiny watch trend.
Icon Sportswire4/21Charles Leclerc’s real-life Grand Theft Auto moment
The rise of high-end watch theft makes sense. For a dexterous – or just plain brazen – thief, it’s easier to snatch a £265,000 Richard Mille from a wrist than to hold up a bank, or set up a multi-level NFT scam. There’s even a cottage industry of viral videos showing people being jacked for their expensive pieces. Unfortunately, Ferrari speedster Leclerc found this out the hard way, when his RM was snagged off his wrist while greeting fans in Tuscany over the summer. The story made headline news around the world and police were eventually able to track down the watch.
5/21RIP Issey Miyake
Issey Miyake’s transcendent creations graced the cover of Artforum and the halls of the MoMA, as well as the figures of icons such as Steve Jobs (that black turtleneck is a Miyake). At the time of his passing in August, an image resurfaced of him wearing the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, tastefully sized down to fit his wrist, indicating a true understanding of an object’s synchronicity with the body.
Daniele Venturelli6/21Jacob Elordi channels Steve McQueen
Euphoria star Jacob Elordi has been known to pal around town with a leather-strapped Cartier Tank, but in the past year, he swapped it out for another classic: the TAG Heuer Monaco. Worn in an earlier iteration by Steve McQueen in Le Mans, Elordi has breathed new life into the piece, forever immortalised by the vision of him on the run from flashing cameras, baby Bottega in hand. He’s now signed with TAG as their latest brand ambassador.
Kevin C. Cox7/21Jay-Z’s vintage diamond Super Bowl flex
The Super Bowl is not exactly renowned for its subtlety or style, but these are the qualities that describe the Patek Philippe Nautilus Jay-Z wore for the occasion. This 40-year-old reference 3800 in 18K yellow gold clocks in at a comfortable 37 mm, graced with factory-set diamonds that sparkle ever so gracefully compared to the range of diamond-set modern watches he could have chosen. Seeing photos of HOV chilling on the field with his daughter, tossing around a Tiffany-blue football whilst wearing this exceptional vintage watch... It’s enough to bring a tear to a watch nerd’s eye.
Samir Hussein8/21AP’s former complications king gets a Kendrick shout-out
Kendrick Lamar’s song “Rich Spirit” includes a real IYKYK verse: “AP, Michael Friedman, my friends cooler. Primary, so the resale value stupid.” For those not in the know, Michael Friedman is AP’s head of complications – an absolute visionary with a reach that transcends the niche watch industry and his slew of celebrity friends. I mean, what corporate watch brand employee gets a name drop on a Kendrick album?
9/21Rihanna’s custom Rolex King Midas
When Rihanna’s pregnancy was announced in January of this year, fans justifiably lost their minds over the prospect of a Bal Gal Riri x A$AP Rocky collab – but we lost it over her watch. The photo that broke the news/internet showed Queen Rih glowing in a 1996 Chanel pink puffer, opened to reveal the baby bump, and an 18K Rolex King Midas, customised by jeweller Patcharavipa Bodiratnangkura. As with King Midas, everything Rihanna touches turns to gold, so it’s only appropriate that she’d choose this ’60s-era piece, audaciously yet delicately modified to meet the mood of the moment.
Mike Coppola10/21Kodi Smit-McPhee goes ice, ice baby at the Oscars
Although Kodi Smit-McPhee didn’t win the best supporting actor Oscar for his role in The Power of the Dog, he won our hearts with his red carpet fit. Shining against the backdrop of his baby-blue Bottega Veneta suit were Cartier high jewellery pieces, and on his wrist a Cartier Révélation d’une Panthère, shimmering with diamonds weighing a grand total of nearly 20 carats.
Allen J. Schaben11/21Of course Leonardo DiCaprio has a Tiffany Patek
Leo showed up courtside at the Lakers, as he does, wearing a signature black I Am Famous Cap and perhaps the most coveted watch in the world right now, the Patek Philippe Nautilus Tiffany-blue dial 5711. It’s so rare that the first edition sold for $6.5 million (around £5.8 million) at auction. So rare that only Leo, Jay-Z and a handful of other hugely dedicated (and rich) clients are in possession of one.
12/21Lewis Hamilton’s ultimate “No Jewellery” protest
At the Miami Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton took the concept of a conspicuous athlete and watch brand partnership to bold new heights when he rocked not one, not two, but three IWC pieces at once. The move was part of a protest against the FIA’s proposed ban on drivers wearing jewellery while racing. Whatever the intended effect, Hamilton and his trio of great watches – a mix of Pilot Chronographs – were the talk of the paddock, and the FIA came away looking stuffy and out of touch.
Icon Sportswire13/21Michael Jordan dances to Urwerk’s bonkers tune
Jordan has always been a big-hoop-earring, cigar-in-the-mouth-and-a-fistful-of-championship-rings guy who loves his watches, but at the Nascar in Nashville in July, his ultra rare and peculiar Urwerk UR-220 RG was proof that any great American tycoon worth their dizzying investment portfolio also needs a look-at-me piece. With just 10 made and a design inspired by Miami Vice, the Urwerk fits the bill.
14/21Patek Philippe electronic clock
This summer, vintage watch dealers Collectability and Analog:Shift did the honourable thing of presenting the world’s largest collection of Patek Philippe electronic clocks. All under one roof, they were set up to dramatically tick as one in midtown Manhattan. Given what Patek is now renowned for, it’s difficult to imagine the brand had an electronic clock division, but in the ’60s (up until the ’90s, when the division eventually shuttered), this state-of-the-art tech dutifully kept time for institutions from Lufthansa to the CIA. Patek didn’t have to bother with electronics – but they did, and they did it right.
15/21An extremely rare Pierre Cardin Espace wrist watch
In the words of Frank Costanza, “Look George, it’s a Pierre Cardin.” Famous for designing collarless suits for the Beatles in the ’60s, Cardin took to the stars the next decade, creating Nasa spacesuits in 1970. The following year, the Italian-French fashion designer launched a limited Espace watch line, with future-forward silhouettes and hand-wound Jaeger movements. While this merge of fashion and haute horology attracted F1 driver Chris Amon (before F1 drivers wore Richard Mille), next to nothing has been said about this cuff-like piece until May this year, when one of them was resurfaced by vintage watch connoisseur John Goldberger. In unearthing the Espace, he rendered it an underrated grail for those with their eyes on the sky.
Alain Costa16/21Who knew a left-handed Rolex Destro would cause such a stir?
Rolex did, it turns out. Unveiling the new GMT-Master II 126720VTNR “Destro” at the annual Watches and Wonders trade fair was definitely Big News. The green and black ceramic and stainless-steel Destro (meaning ‘right’ in Italian) is made for southpaws, with an inverted crown and date (on the left, not right). Big deal? In the world of rare Rolexes, where one small detail can mean astronomical differences in after-market price, you bet. This lefty GMT is guaranteed to be an ultra-covetable collector’s piece, with Roger Federer seen wearing one before his retirement sobfest.
17/21Crazy MoonSwatch queues
The Supreme-ification of watches has been happening for a while now. But the Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch collection? A luxury brand releasing a spin on a classic with an affordable partner and price point? Unheard of. The result was watches’ biggest breakout moment in years. Check out footage of the scrum outside the Swatch shop on Carnaby Street in March. Eight months later, the queues remain. Will this spiral into a trend of more intriguing crossovers in the future? Patek x Timex, we’re looking at you.
18/21Thom Browne sews up a storm
In Paris this past June, Thom Browne presented his SS23 menswear line with a sprinkling of details we won’t soon forget: jockstraps, miniskirts, and a codpiece with a Prince Albert piercing. Irreverent yet elevated (each of the looks comes in a French tweed from the same maker as Chanel), we also can’t forget the thread watches resembling Cartier Tanks, painstakingly embroidered into the wrists of a select few shirts. Crisp.
Rick Davis / SplashNews.com19/21Tom Wambsgans’ royal succession
A big part of the draw of Succession is how subtle gestures and symbols represent status shifts. A Lanvin trainer, a Loro Piana baseball cap – these things say something about how the wealthy Roy clan wish to present themselves. Tom Wambsgans (played by Matthew MacFadyen), will have his just reward in series four for doing the dodgy over his wife with his father-in-law – not like that – with a new watch. Spotted while shooting in NYC, it appears he’s upgraded his Cartier to a shiny new AP Royal Oak Chrono. Perhaps this power watch hints at a new-found position atop the greasy Waystar pole.
20/21One of Patek’s first rodeos
This Patek Philippe “Rodeo” Calatrava is a total oddball, yee-hawing proudly apart from the rarefied sensibility the Swiss brand is known for. Still, it’s exactly the kind of grail piece you’d hope to find at the Kairos Collection, a Christie’s auction that pays homage to the Swiss brand’s exceptional timepieces. Created in a limited-edition of 10 by a wood marquetry master in 2008, the Rodeo illustration consists of 318 pieces of wood achieving the highly detailed illustration of an American cowboy.
Robert Kamau21/21Tyler, the Creator’s tiny Cartiers
Disclaimer: Cartier’s most impactful ambassador in 2022 is not on the payroll. He’s not even officially affiliated with the brand. Tyler, the Creator has independently amassed a collection of tiny vintage Cartier watches and in doing so, has inserted the maison into the contemporary zeitgeist. Worn by the likes of Muhammad Ali and Andy Warhol, Cartier has always managed to meet the moment; but Tyler has made the moment his own, going for underrated “ladies” pieces, including the coveted Cartier Crash.
