By 
AS THE BIGGEST night in fashion, the Met Gala is where we expect to find exceptional outfits on some of the world’s most stylish of dressers. But even the most adept of fashion’s faithful can be let down by a poor choice of accessories. Thankfully, few made that mistake at this year’s Met.
If there was ever a year that watches would steal the show at the Met Gala, it would be during a year with a theme like garden of time – it has time in the name for crying out loud. The theme may not have directly called for a focus on timepieces, but judging by the resulting looks, it appears a few attendees interpreted it that way, as the 2024 Met Gala was one of the best for watch spotting in recent memory.
The watches at this year’s Met were really something special, elevating many of the plain black suits onlookers always bemoan. Here, we take a closer look out our favourites, but fair warning, due to the hefty price tags, you probably won’t be adding many of these watches to your wishlist – unless your a full-blown watch collecting scion, of course.
Jacob & Co. Ruby Billionaire III – Usher
It takes an immense amount of restraint to casually walk around with a $5 million watch on your wrist and resist the urge to constantly lecture everyone within shouting distance on how cool it is. Assuredly, Usher is as cool as they come. The pink-hued Jacob & Co. watch he wore to the Met is made from 18-carat white gold, sapphire glass, and features 714 encrusted rubies, which lend themselves to an exorbitant price tag. Usher was hardly showing it off though, with the timepiece spending most of the night obscured beneath the singer’s sleeve.
Chopard Alpine Eagle – Chris Hemsworth
Hemsworth was a long-time ambassador for TAG Heuer, which sufficiently limited his horological range to TAG’s premier pieces. Since departing, Hemsworth has shown interest in a variety of other watchmakers, most recently Chopard at the Met Gala. The unconventional rose-gold, diamond-encrusted Alpine Eagle Hemsworth wore to the Met utilises a chronometer movement and is a reinterpretation of the St Moritz models first created in the 1980s.
Patek Philippe Aquanaut – Ben Simmons
Rose gold cases were popular fare at this year’s Met Gala, but few were as showstopping as Ben Simmons’ Patek Philippe. This watch is as vibrant as they come, with multicoloured hour markers on the dial and a rainbow theme throughout. Simmons also showed up with a briefcase with a clock printed across its face and gave no explanation for the fashion choice, but clearly, time was on his mind.
IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 44 – Colman Domingo
Colman Domingo clearly has his finger on the pulse of the watchmaking world, because this IWC watch was only released at Watches & Wonders less than a month ago. Retailing for $70,000, Domingo also clearly has the necessary funds to afford just about any watch he wants. We can’t fault his selection here, the Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 44 not only features a standard 12-hour dial, but four sub dials displaying hours, days, months, and even moon phases. And they’re all incredibly precise, requiring only one-day adjustment every 577.5 years.
Cartier Santos de Cartier – Dwyane Wade
More rose gold, more encrusted diamonds and more mind-boggling prices. This Cartier watch goes for more than $50,000. A watch enthusiast throughout his legendary NBA career, it’s a good thing Wade had the lucrative contract required to fund such an expensive hobby.
Three Omegas – Barry Keoghan
That’s right, Barry Keoghan donned not one, not two, but three Omega watches to complete his Dickensian outfit. The most visible is a modern classic, the De Ville Prestige, in yellow gold. On the opposite wrist, Keoghan fitted another diamond-accented piece in rose gold. Finally, he kept a rare stainless ‘Staybrite’ 1930s pocket watch clipped to his lapel, befitting of the Mad Hatter aesthetic he was clearly going for.
Vintage Piaget Malachite Dress Watch – Lil Nas X
The watch Lil Nas X wore to the 2024 Met Gala was a vintage Piaget reminiscent of the minimalistic days where less was more in the watchmaking world. The white-gold model features a malachite dial, integrated bracelet, and was one of the most distinctive pieces on display at the Met.
Richard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari – Jeremy Strong
You’ll struggle to find a thinner watch than the one Jeremy Strong wore at this year’s Met Gala. Measuring at a near-microscopic 1.75 millimetres in thickness, Strong’s Richard Mille UP-01 is a testament to just how advanced modern watch mechanics can be.
Vintage two-tone Cartier Roadster – Donald Glover
Donald Glover sourced this watch from Cartier’s early 2000s catalogue, back when two-tone timepieces were all the rage. You don’t see a stainless steel and yellow gold combination too often these day, but Glover proves it can still work.
Chanel J12 – Jerry Seinfeld
Chanel announced a number of new additions to its J12 collection at Watches & Wonders last month, but Jerry Seinfeld apparently prefers this older model, and we don’t blame him. With a black ceramic case and diamonds serving as hour markers, it was one of the most visually striking watches at the Met.
TAG Heuer ‘Panda’ Carrera – Nicholas Galitzine
Nicholas Galatzine opted for a personal favourite of ours at the Met Gala, donning TAG Heuer’s throwback Panda Carrera Chronograph. Announced at Watches & Wonders in 2023, the Panda Carrera is an homage to an earlier Heuer watch from the ’60s. With a steel case, silver sunray brushed dial and contrasting black subdials, the classic Carrera endeared itself to collectors for giving off the appearance of a Panda. Evidently, the modern reinterpretation had the same effect on Galitzine.
Related:
The best dressed men at the 2024 Met Gala
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