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Making the red carpet rounds at Cannes to promote Francis Ford Coppola’s long-awaited film Megalopolis, Adam Driver appeared in classic white tie with a legendary ’70s watch that’s been making some serious noise in 2024: the Piaget Polo.
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Etienne Delacretaz
Back in the early 1970s, the watch industry was in the early days of the Quartz Crisis. The Beta 21 quartz movement, developed by a consortium, was too thick for Piaget’s ultra-thin, ultra-chic timepieces. Rather than trying to make a square peg fit within a round hole, the maison set to work on its own movement, which resulted in the Caliber 7P. Debuting in 1976, it measured just 3.1mm tall and was succeeded by the even thinner Caliber 8P. Suddenly the brand had a battery-powered movement it could stand behind—one that wouldn’t ruin the silhouette of its svelte creations.
Gérald Genta’s design for the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak hit the scene in 1972; his Patek Philippe Nautilus in 1976. While both of these luxury sports watches—the first of their kind—featured automatic movements, Piaget took what could be considered a more forward-thinking approach by building a similar product powered by its new quartz calibers. The Piaget Polo hit shelves in 1979, with both men’s and ladies’ versions available in different sizes and shapes. All were made from solid gold, and their quartz technology was considered cutting-edge.
Designed as a chic daily sports watch to attract a young clientele—perhaps ironic given its starting price of roughly $20,000 in 1979, the equivalent of nearly $90,000 today—the Polo stayed in production until 1990. It never became a sensation quite like the Royal Oak, and never caused a CEO to cancel production of its flagship reference for fear of it overshadowing the rest of said brand’s wares. (We’re looking at you, 5711.) Rather, it was slowly retired as the Vendôme Group (the modern Richemont Group) acquired Piaget in 1988, only to be revived in 2001 in a larger diameter and with, for the first time, a mechanical movement, the Caliber 504P. (Smaller versions continued to be quartz-powered.)
Fast-forward to the early 2020s, and the horological landscape is very different. Mechanical watchmaking is back with a vengeance—and, to be fair, has been for some time—and the luxury sports watch remains ascendant. Releasing the Polo 79 earlier this year to celebrate the brand’s 150th anniversary, Piaget’s star is on the rise, with younger collectors flocking to its creative, ultra-thin wares from the mid-20th century and rediscovering this chic sports watch collection. Driver’s Polo Date, a 42mm rose gold watch with a chocolate brown dial the manufacture calibrer 1110P automatic movement. Measuring just 9.4mm tall and boasting 100m of water resistance, it’s the perfect modern incarnation of a watch that needed time to grow into an ideal form—one that works just as well accompanying white tie on the red carpet as it does on the polo field.
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Chris Pratt’s IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph
At The Garfield Movie’s world premiere in Hollywood this week, Chris Pratt rocked an IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph ref. IW378001. (On an orange strap, no less—nice one, Chris!) A 43mm version of the Schaffhausen-based brand’s aviation-theme chrono, it packs a triple-register display with 30-minute, 12-hour, and running seconds totalizers, plus day and date windows at 3 o’clock and all the typical pilot’s watch tropes: large Arabic indices, a lume sword handset, and a triangular index at 12 o’clock. Water resistant to 100m and topping out at nearly 15mm tall, this is a robust sports watch meant for serious use—though its in-house cal. 69385 movement with 242 components will also delight the nerds amongst us.
JB Lacroix
Kevin Costner’s Chopard L.U.C Heritage Grand Cru
In Cannes to premiere his Western epic Horizon: An American Saga, Kevin Costner paired black tie with the chic L.U.C Heritage Grand Cru from Chopard. Housed in a tonneau-shaped case and inspired by company scion Karl-Friedrich Scheufele’s love of wine, it features 3.05 carats worth of baguette-shaped diamonds set within the bezel, plus a lovely black dial with Roman indices, an inner railroad minute track, and a sub-seconds register above 6 o’clock within which is set a subtle date window. Powered by the brand’s Caliber L.U.C 97.01-L with twin barrels and 65 hours of power reserve, this COSC-certified chronometer from 2018, with its black leather strap, proved an excellent choice of wristwear as Costner debuted the first of four planned films.
Dominique Charriau
Francis Ford Coppola’s F.P. Journe Pièce Unique
American cinematic royalty Francis Ford Coppola can conceivably wear any watch he pleases—but when you’ve got an F.P. Journe named after you, it’s probably tough to rock anything else. The Godfather director appeared in Cannes wearing his namesake piece, but with a twist: FCC’s FCC appears to be unique, with a white chapter ring and a black hand. (The model, which resulted from a conversation between the director and F.P. Journe, features a large hand—the human, rather than the horological kind—that indicates the time digitally. This design, inspired by ancient timekeeping concepts, necessitated its own special movement modifications.)
Daniele Venturelli
Nicholas Cage’s Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon Neon Saxem
It was only a matter of time until Nicholas Cage found his ideal horological companion—the 44mm, see-through Big Bang Tourbillon Neon Saxem from Hublot. Machined from an alloy of aluminum oxide, thulium, holmium, and chromium, it would not be my first choice if I were trying to retake Alcatraz from a bunch of murderous ex-Marines—but if you’re appearing on the red carpet to promote your new film, The Surfer, a bright yellow sport watch with a matching rubber strap works just fine. Powered by the brand’s automatic Caliber HUB6035 with a micro-rotor and tourbillon, it features a wildly cool dial in which transparent bridges make the movement appear to float within the case.
