This is one hell of a way to start a watch collection.
Last weekend, Timothée Chalamet wore something extremely notable on a red carpet. Like many of Timmy’s red-carpet outfits, it became the One Big Thing everyone talked about on the internet. It was big, it was flashy, it was exciting—it was a watch! Oh, I’m hearing now he also wore a shimmery red number from designer-pal Haider Ackermann that was totally backless? Guess I missed that one…
Because Chalamet in a watch is a huge deal. While the young actor is a fan of rings, hair ties, and bracelets—both of the Cartier and summer-camp-souvenir variety—he’s rarely if ever worn a watch to a big event. He wore a Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso a while back, and once tweeted, “ROSE GOLD PRESIDENTIAL ON MY BONEY WRIST,” referencing a Rolex Day-Date, but he never made good on this promise. He signed on to be a Cartier ambassador (or a “friend of the house,” as the brand calls it) all the way back in September of last year, and while I figured that partnership would bring us one step closer to a more watch-friendly Chalamet, he made us wait 12 long months for this moment.
For a man with self-described bony wrists, he couldn’t have chosen a better house to “befriend.” Thin, small, and elegant Cartiers are practically tailor-made for those skipping wrist day at the gym. And while this is Chalamet’s first time wearing a Cartier in public, he skipped past the brand’s most frequently spotted pieces, the Santos and standard no-frills Tank. Instead, he hopped into the brand’s archives and surfaced with quite the treasure: a double-time-zone Tank in white gold from 2002. Similar to a GMT/travel-time watch, this Tank is designed to tell the wearer what time it is in two different places. Unlike many other GMTs, which simply add another hour hand, this one cleverly uses two wholly different hour-and-minute setups to achieve its dual-time status. The watch actually houses two separate movements to do this.
The ad campaign that spawned a million bad Seinfeld impressions: “What’s the deal with streetwear? It’s not like these kids wear this stuff on the street, they’re just keeping it pristine in their closet. They should call it closet wear!” More age-appropriate than the Kith get-ups Seinfeld wore is the Breitling on his wrist. The watch takes inspiration from an earlier ‘80s-era Chronomat the brand made in collaboration with Frecce Tricolori, the Italian Air Force’s air display team. Mamma mia.
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