Being a provider of fine antique wrist watches, it is always of interest to us here to see what choices are made for a character in a film, due to the fact a watch can say a lot about a person. This includes lifestyle choices, personality and even potentially about your family history.
This can be said for both real life and the fictional world, as it adds to the detail of the story. With this in mind, we are going to take a look at some of the most memorable watches as seen on film:
Batman Begins/The Dark Knight
Jaeger-LeCoultre has been the official timekeeper of Batman on screen for over seventeen years now. The Reverso Jaeger-LeCoultre watch was first worn by Val Kilmer when he played Batman, and has since been brought back for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, with Christian Bale wearing one in those films.
The most significant feature about this watch is the fact it has two sides, with the steel back capable of flipping over to protect the face of the watch from damage.
Collateral
Swiss manufacturer IWC, founded in 1868, provided the watch for Collateral’s main antagonist. Tom Cruise plays hitman Vincent, and he wears the IWC Vintage Ingenieur Automatic IW3233 throughout the duration of the film. The watch features a stainless steel case, with sapphire crystal glass on both the face and the rear of the watch. This makes for an extremely durable watch, which is completed by being fitted with a black alligator leather strap.
American Psycho
Whilst trying to secure designers to provide a watch for the American Psycho film, there were some issues. Due to the activities undertaken by main character Patrick Bateman, again played by Christian Bale, many designers did not want their products to be associated with the film.
Eventually, Rolex agreed to allow their Datejust model to be worn, but only in scenes where Bateman wasn’t partaking in sinister activities (if you haven’t seen the film, these activities are quite gruesome!). This led to a script change, as the book contained the line “Don’t touch the Rolex”, but Rolex did not allow the watch to be worn during this scene.
Le Mans
Steve McQueen played driver Michael Delaney in the 1971 Oscar nominated film Le Mans. He chose to wear the Monaco watch, made by company Swiss Heuer, who are now known by the name Tag Heuer. The watch was quite iconic, as it was the first ever square faced-water resistant case to have been created.
The exact watch worn by McQueen in the film was later sold at auction, and fetched more than £500,000, a most impressive feature. Tag Heuer continue to make the Monaco watch to this day, having tweaked and updated it slightly since it first arrived in the late 1960’s.
Blood Diamond
Swiss watchmakers Breitling were founded in 1884, and provided the watch for main character Danny Archer. The Chrono Avenger features a solid titanium case with a brown calf leather strap, and the dial can sometimes appear blue, but this is due to the blue reflection from the sapphire crystal. Other redeemable features of these watches are the fact they are shockproof and water-resistant to up to 300 metres.
Image: Jeffrey Smith under creative commons.
