While Jason Momoa has been spotted in the usual horological suspects—Rolex Daytona, Cartier Tank, etc.—some more unusual choices have also graced his wrist. Being a serious Leica camera fan, he’s rocked the gold ZM1, for example—a watch that doesn’t get much love from the mainstream celebrity watch-wearing community. Now, however, even that timepiece seems pedestrian next to the rare gem he strapped on for the UK premiere of his new film The Wrecking Crew.
Witness Momoa in all his pink corduroy-clad glory—astride a black Harley, no less—and wearing a vintage Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, perhaps his hardest-hitting timepiece yet. The Fifty Fathoms, after all, was one of the first dive watches produced at a commercial scale in the early 1950s alongside the Rolex Submariner and the Zodiac Sea-Wolf. But that’s not all, you see. The Fifty Fathoms was also a widely-issued military watch, with variants used by France’s Marine Nationale, Germany’s Bundeswehr, the U.S. Navy, and others. In fact, it was Captain Bob Maloubier, a French veteran of the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War, who helped design the watch to military specifications for combat divers.
The particular version that Momoa wore is ultra-rare, slightly confusing, and wildly cool: Dubbed a Fifty Fathoms ‘Demo’ Milspec 1, it was actually not a military-issued version of the watch despite the “Milspec” nomenclature featured on the dial. The story is that a handful of these pieces were sold to the civilian market via Abercrombie & Fitch (then a prominent American outdoor outfitter) in the 1960s and 1970s with several modifications: The case was upgraded to a bead-blasted, two-piece design while the Bakelite bezel was swapped for a fully hashed version, the crown was made to screw down, and the watch’s movement was swapped out for a newer caliber. And that little yellow-orange circle above 6 o’clock? That’s a moisture indicator whose color would change if water entered the case, alerting its wearer to take it in for service ASAP.
Advertised via Abercrombie & Fitch as “Demolition” watches, these wildly rare Fifty Fathoms pieces don’t trade hands often—indeed, it’s the type of watch that Momoa would either have been offered by a top dealer, or sought out himself, thanks to its synergy with the title of his newest film (and, of course, its horological clout). Either way, this is also one of the rare instances in which the civilian version of a milspec watch may actually be cooler than the military-issued variant.
The Sundance Film Festival is the premier launchpad for American indie cinema, but it’s equally fertile ground for watch-spotting, as this sighting of Omega’s latest take on the Speedy demonstrates. Available in both stainless steel and 18K Moonshine Gold, it features white subdials against a black-lacquered dial—the famed “reverse panda” look of certain Cosmograph Daytona and Heuer Carrera models. Knives Out director Rian Johnson knows what’s up: Spotted in Park City, Utah, this week, he proudly wore the steel version. Measuring 42mm and powered by the brand’s cal. 3861 hand-wound movement, it combines the original Speedmaster’s design with modern refinements like a contemporary brushed and polished bracelet.
Pete Davidson wore a vintage Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 6265 when he appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon this week. Produced from the early 1970s through the late 1980s, this longstanding version of the Daytona is housed in an Oyster case with screw-down pushers, a screw-down crown, and a screw-down caseback, making it significantly more water-resistant than pump-pusher references such as Paul Newman’s famed ref. 6239. Davidson’s is what’s referred to as a “Big Red”—take a look at the dial, and you’ll notice the “Daytona” text in red above the 6 o’clock register. This feature, combined with the handsome “panda” configuration of the white dial and its waterproof case, makes this a roughly six-figure proposition.
Clinching the win in the Men’s Singles quarterfinal against Lorenzo Musetti at the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic wore the newly-released Big Bang Tourbillon Novak Djokovic GOAT Edition Blue—a watch whose case is made from his recycled tennis rackets and Lacoste polo shirts! (Yes, really!) The Blue version—which is inspired by Djokovic’s 72 hard-court victories—features a uniquely designed lattice that takes the place of a traditional mainplate: Made to resemble the strings of a tennis racket, it’s actually a single 0.55mm filament that’s engraved by Hublot in a special laser process. (The innovation doesn’t end there: The bezel screws are shaped like tennis balls, which necessitated yet another special manufacturing technique.)
Austin Butler’s Breitling Chronomat Automatic GMT 40
Appearing at the St. Laurent Show in Paris (and flanked by Charlie Hunnam and Anthony Boyle, no less), Breitling ambassador Austin Butler once again wore the Chronomat Automatic GMT 40, a stainless steel watch with a cool Rouleaux bracelet and a classic “rider tab” bezel. It descends from an aviation-focused collection dating back to the 1940s, which would evolve into the funky ref. 1808 chronograph in the 1960s, among other collectible versions. In its refined modern form, the GMT-equipped version of the Chronomat is ideal for a globe-trotting thespian like Butler, but would do just as well on the wrist of a pilot cruising at 30,000 feet.