Jamie Weiss
The 97th Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, have taken place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Widely considered to be the most prestigious awards in the movie industry, it’s also one of the best watch-spotting events on the calendar. Celebrities definitely bring the horological heat to the Oscars, and 2025’s edition was no exception. There was one big theme among the watches this year, though: gold. Lots of gold. We’re used to seeing precious metal pieces flaunted on red carpets – last month’s BAFTAs and January’s Golden Globes also had plenty of gold watches – but the standout watches all shared that coveted case material in common. Here were my favourites from Hollywood’s night of nights.Andrew Garfield – Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Duoface CalendarFirst up we have Andrew Garfield, who made a strong play for best-dressed man of the Oscars with his very 70s all-brown suiting ensemble, complete with Gucci shades and a tonally perfect Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Duoface Calendar ref. Q3912532. A more developed take on the iconic reversible watch, its rose gold case and tan Casa Fagliano strap pair perfectly with his outfit – and there’s just something about its complete calendar and moonphase that exudes sprezzatura despite being complicated. Powered by the manual-winding in-house calibre 853, as the name implies, it features two faces: the champagne sunburst number we can see here with a date wheel and day/date windows, and a dark grey dial on the reverse with a larger moonphase aperture. Garfield wore a similar outfit and a similar rose gold Reverso (sans complications) to the Golden Globes, too – but this is a cooler fit, and a cooler watch. Price: US$30,200Timothee Chalamet – Cartier Mini BaignoireTimothee Chalamet is well-known as a devotee of an itty-bitty Cartier, with the American-French star seen sporting Pantheres, Crashes and Tank Minis on multiple occasions. His latest little Cartier steps things up a notch: a yellow gold Mini Baignoire ref. 1960 with a radial guilloche dial and an atypical bracelet, set with diamonds, rubies and sapphires. Cartier has confirmed to Time+Tide that this is a vintage example dating to 1994. Chalamet stacked his Baignoire with lots of vintage Cartier bling including a Love bracelet, Collection rings from 2005 and a gemset Tradition necklace from 1988. Price: ~US$11,000Kieran Culkin – Omega De Ville Tresor 40mm Sedna GoldKieran Culkin hoisted his Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role in A Real Pain wearing a highly underrated Omega De Ville Tresor 40mm ref. 435.53.40.21.11.002, a sumptuous dress watch with a rich burgundy dial and alligator leather strap. These pair perfectly with its Sedna Gold case, Sedna Gold being Omega’s proprietary rose gold alloy. It incorporates a unique mix of copper, silver and palladium to give it high resistance to fading over time. It’s got a Co-Axial movement to boot, the hand-wound calibre 8927, which is Master Chronometer-certified and has a Sedna Gold balance bridge, admirable through its exhibition caseback. Nicely done, Kieran. Price: US$20,000Cole Walliser – H. Moser & Cie Streamliner TourbillonA surprising watch to spot on the red carpet this Oscars was this stunning H. Moser & Cie Streamliner Tourbillon ref. 6804-0400, seen on the wrist of Canadian filmmaker and social media star Cole Walliser. He’s normally behind the camera on the red carpet: you might know him best for his GlamBOT high-speed camera system, which he uses to take cinematic slow-motion videos of celebrities that regularly go viral. It’s cool to see him get papped rather than the other way around, and his watch is certainly worthy of attention. Boasting a slinky rose gold case and bracelet, this tourbillon watch features a dial made from Vantablack, which is claimed to be the world’s darkest material and absorbs up to 99.965% of visible light. The result? A mesmerisingly stark black watch dial that draws extra attention to the in-house tourbillon movement. Price: US$120,733Joe Alwyn – Bulgari BulgariIn a sea of exxy outfits, sometimes less is more. That’s the approach that English actor Joe Alwyn, who appeared in The Brutalist, took for the 2025 Academy Awards. He slipped on a classic yellow gold Bulgari Bulgari ref. 103967 for the Oscars (a watch so nice they named it twice) mounted on a black alligator leather strap. Despite its classical, monumental form, it’s just 8.75mm thick – you want a watch that can slip under a tuxedo cuff for an event like the Oscars. Price: US$13,200Jeff Goldblum – Vacheron Constantin egerie Moon PhaseLast but certainly not least, we have the ever-iconoclastic Jeff Goldblum, who wore a pink gold Vacheron Constantin egerie Moon Phase ref. 8005F/000R-H030 to the 2025 Oscars. Goldblum seems to have a bit of a thing for wearing traditionally feminine Vacheron models: at the Golden Globes earlier this year, he wore an entirely diamond-paved white gold Traditionelle Moon Phase ref. 7006T/000G-B913, and at the BAFTAs he wore another egerie model, the Creative Edition ref. 8006F/000G-B942, also in white gold. Designed by Chinese fashion designer Yiqing Yin and unveiled at Watches and Wonders 2024, Goldblum’s Oscars egerie features a lilac mother-of-pearl dial with a pleated motif, 36 round-cut diamonds surrounding the moonphase, 58 brilliant-cut diamonds set into its bezel and a moonstone set into its crown. Price: US$43,100
03.03.25