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We spend much of our time watching the stars – movie stars, sports celebrities, famous adventurers. We daydream about their exploits, envy the glamorous lives they assuredly lead, and long to resemble them in every way.
Although their mythical perfection is light years away from us, mere mortals, there is one way in which we can reflect the dazzling light of the stars: by wearing their wristwatch.

Indeed, the wristwatch projects a tremendously strong image completely out of proportion to its relatively small size. When magnified by identification with a cinematic or sports celebrity, the impact can be dazzling. What man does not feel a bit like James Bond,

Geoffroy Ader
Watch Expert
French Representative

debonnaire and invincible, with the “James Bond” Rolex Ref. 6538 or 5508 on his wrist? What woman does not imagine herself to be as glamorous as Jackie Kennedy Onassis, when wearing Jackie’s signature Cartier “Tank”?

The relationship between watches and famous people goes back a long way. Monarchs and aristocrats greatly contributed to the success of pocket watches, while celebrities in various fields have greatly helped to promote the wristwatch over the course of its history, first helping to make the newfangled instrument popular, and now contributing to the style and image of many different brands.

Although many watch brands have played a role in the history of aviation, only one was present with the Wright brothers on the beach of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on the morning of Thursday December 19, 1903, as they made the

first flight in the history of aviation. This was a Vacheron & Constantin wristwatch. Initially made in a series of five, one example is now exhibited in the Vacheron & Constantin museum in Geneva. It has a steel case, enamel dial, red-painted hands, and a long leather strap allowing it to be worn either on the thigh or over a leather jacket. This wristwatch, used for the 59 seconds of that historic flight, changed the course of history.

Another early aviator, Alberto Santos Dumont, made the first public flight near Paris on November 12, 1906, flying a distance of 220 meters for 21 seconds. Two years earlier, in 1904, his friend Louis Cartier had created a wristwatch for him. This collaboration between Santos-Dumont and Cartier is of great importance for the watch industry. For the first time, a celebrity gave his name -“Santos”- to a line of wristwatches commercialized from 1911 to the present day. Wristwatches were in a sense the perfect illustration of the Modern Movement, which favored rationality and functionalism. These principles, generally applied to art, also influenced serially produced items such as wristwatches.

Over the years, wristwatches have gradually become a status symbol as well as a utilitarian object. Another famous adventurer was one of the first to wear a wristwatch; this was T.E. Shaw, better known as Lawrence of Arabia. The fact that Lawrence of Arabia wore a silver Omega single-button chronograph wristwatch shows that the wristwatch had become a useful tool that could be trusted to perform under what were often difficult conditions.

The period between the First and Second World Wars is considered the most creative and innovative in wristwatch history. By then wristwatches were truly everyday objects, having dethroned the pocket watch, which was seen as old-fashioned. However, watch manufacturers continued to produce highly complicated pocket watches, which over the years have conserved the names of their famous owners. An example is the “Henry Graves” watch, made in 1933 by Patek Philippe. At the time it was the most complicated watch ever produced, with 24 complications. In 1935, Vacheron Constantin sold a watch with 15 complications to King Farouk.

A record-breaking sports event also went down in wristwatch history, when Rolex’s water-resistant wristwatch with screwed-down crown, the so-called “Oyster”, was worn in 1927 by Mercedes Gleitze as she swam across the English Channel. Her “Oyster” was still in perfect condition after 14 hours and 15 minutes of immersion. The next morning, the Daily Mail related this record-breaking performance on its front page. Earlier that same year, on May 27, 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh made the first non-stop transatlantic flight. Longines capitalized on the event, signing a contract with the aviator to build the first hour-angle aviator’s wristwatch, launched on the market in 1932. It became a great commercial success under the name of the “Lindbergh” wristwatch.

In the field of competitive sports, Jean-Claude Killy became a major phenomenon in the 1960s and 70s. The three consecutive gold medals he won for his skiing performances at the 1968 Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble, earned him a place in the sports Hall of Fame. Killy also has a passion for wristwatches. In the preface the last edition of Osvaldo Patrizzi’s “Collecting Rolex Wristwatches”, Killy is quoted as saying: "Of the twenty-five Rolexes in my collection… there is one I particularly care for: a gold manual wind chronograph 6036's." Collectors the world over refer to Rolex reference 6036 as the "Jean Claude Killy", blending the legend of the sportsman with that of the wristwatch.

On 1953, May 29, Sir Edmund Hillary, wearing a Rolex “Oyster” wristwatch, was the first man to conquer Mount Everest. Seven years later, Rolex wristwatches returned to the water, this time with a specially produced Rolex “Oyster”, fixed to the outside of a bathysphere. The “Trieste” descended to 10,916 meters in the Pacific, off Guam. Though it had been subjected to a pressure of one metric ton per square centimeter, the watch was declared by explorer Jacques Piccard to be in perfect condition upon resurfacing. More than any other brand, Rolex grasped the impact celebrities could have on their marketing. Mercedes Gleitze, Sir Edmund Hillary and Jacques Piccard all contributed, with their exploits, to the Rolex legend.

Just as great, perhaps even greater, than the contribution of adventurers and sports stars, has been the impact of celebrities in the cinematic industry. Wristwatches have always been one of the favorite accessories of Her Majesty’s secret agent 007, the infamous James Bond. Long before he appeared on the silver screen, novelist Ian Fleming had already issued James Bond with a wristwatch

In "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", Bond uses his Rolex as a knuckle-duster and breaks it. Contemplating a replacement watch, Bond thinks, "A Rolex? Probably. They are on the heavy side, but they work. And at least you can see the time in the dark with those big phosphorous numerals." In the 1962 film “Dr No.”, actor Sean Connery played the beach scene with the statuesque Ursula Andress with a Rolex Submariner on his wrist. For collectors, that Rolex Submariner Ref. 6538 or 5508, has come to be known as the “James Bond Submariner”

It all started in 1962 with “Dr. No”. Then the Rolex Submariner was featured in the 1963 “From Russia with Love”. In “Goldfinger” in 1964, a Rolex Submariner is beautifully spotlighted by Sean Connery’s cigarette lighter, while Honor Blackman wears a Rolex GMT while flying Goldfinger’s jet. In “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” which came out in 1969, actor George Lazenby takes off his Submariner and places it on top of a photocopy machine while he peruses a Playboy magazine. James Bond also wears a Rolex chronograph with a silvered dial and a stainless steel Oyster bracelet. Finally in “Live and Let Die” in 1973, another Rolex Submariner, Ref. 5513, is featured on Roger Moore’s wrist as the words “That's a particularly handsome watch you're wearing, Mr. Bond!" are spoken.

Whereas the Rolex Submariner will be remembered as the James Bond Watch of the 60s, many of the episodes from the 70s and early 80s testified to the fierce competition from electronic wristwatches imported from Japan. The Swiss Watch Industry was no longer omnipresent. In 1977, “The Spy Who Loved Me” featured a Seiko Quartz LC Chronograph which could print out messages. In “Moonraker” in 1979, Roger Moore wore a Seiko LCD digital, which contained a small amount of explosive, detonator, and cables, which he could access by removing the back plate of the watch. In 1981, in “For Your Eyes Only”, a Seiko quartz analog digital alarm chronograph wristwatch doubled as a radio/receiver, followed by a Seiko Sports 100 LCD & Seiko TV watch with LCD screen in the 1983 “Octopussy”.

Pierce Brosnan, the latest actor to portray agent 007, wears an Omega “Seamaster Professional” 300m/1000ft in the 1996 film “Golden Eye”. That watch contained a built-in laser. In the 1997 “Tomorrow Never Dies”, Brosnan detonated a bomb with the same watch. In 1999, in “The World Is Not Enough”, the watch turned into a grappling hook. The same watch appeared, with even more amazing features, in “Die Another Day” in 2002.

While celebrities initiated the wristwatch trend, by the end of the century they had become followers rather than leaders. The wristwatch, vector of communication and fashion trends, had come to be highly affordable accessory produced by the millions, in the case of quartz watches. In the early 80s, the Swiss Watch Industry felt the need to choose between watches made by fine craftsmen and those produced for a wide consumer market. The result was the Swatch phenomenon, brought about by deliberate management and helped along by celebrity marketing. With its Hollywood style wristwatch collections designed by famous contemporary artists, Swatch created a new type of celebrity watch.

In 1986, pop artist Keith Haring designed four Swatch models, produced in a series numbered 1 to 9999. Then, in 1989, Mimmo Paladino, won the “Design Your Swatch” contest in which 100 of the best-known celebrities took part. Swatch’s new creations became the talk of the town, as well as collector’s items.

Auction catalogues commonly refer to certain wristwatches by the name of a celebrity. One example is the so-called “Paul Newman” Rolex “Daytona” chronograph wristwatch, which varies from the original version by its dial featuring different indexes in the registers. The watch became identified with the actor when a scene from the film “Winning” showed him waving his arm in a victory salute, with the watch in plain view. Collectors appreciate the “Daytona’s” connection with the movie star as well as the fact that he has worn his Rolex chronograph at many racecourses - Newman is a passionate
racing enthusiast. The “Daytona” is probably the most popular celebrity wristwatch at auction today.

Proof, if any were needed, that the love story between wristwatches and celebrities has not dimmed one iota. It continues to shine on, like the moon, the sun, --- and the stars.

Above: Aviator Charles Lindberg.

Left: Actor Steve McQueen, another of the celebrities to have a wristwatch named
after him.