From Timothée Chalamet to Barry Keoghan: Why these watches mattered at the Golden Globes
Award season is back (hallelujah), which means stoke up the fire of the internet, and let the cultural commentary commence. It’s a breeding ground for virality, meme culture and a time when we all can, and will, give our two cents from the comfort of our bedrooms. And this year’s 81st annual Golden Globes was no exception. Cilian Murphy donned lipstick on his nose, Robert Downey Jr. announced his ailments for giving a speech, and Ayo Edebiri reminded us to check our emails. And check them again.
But cut through the regalia and fanfare of 2024’s ceremony though, and there was history in the making – and not just for those who scored the awards. It was a moment for the wrists; wrists that felt more decorated than ever. A milestone in itself, and a night to celebrate for Omega, fastened to the likes of Oppenheimer’s frontman, Cilian Murphy, Will Ferrell, Colman Domingo and Jonathan Bailey.
It’s high praise for Da’Vine Joy Randolph too, scooping up the prize for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her role in The Holdovers while wearing a tiny 25mm Omega Constellation. It’s a triumph anytime we see a woman wearing a watch on the red carpet, given their scarcity still (!), but you can always count on Omega to support this resistant ground, lest we forget Nicole Kidman and Kaia Gerber’s momentous displays to normalise this.
So while we’re disheartened that we were, once again, reliant on Michelle Yeoh’s admirable Richard Mille collection (an eternal icon), it meant that this year, change was bubbling amongst the men. And not just any men for that matter. Two stalwarts of society that have the power, sometimes unconsciously, to dictate the maelstrom of conversation: Timothée Chalamet and Barry Keoghan.
Pause a beat. Sure, it’s two more men wearing watches, what’s the big deal? Well, the deal is that we’re not just seeing men shrink down to ‘traditionally’ smaller watches – historically orthodox on women – but actually wearing women’s watches themselves, and with all the added diamonds that the history books said didn’t belong to them.
For Keoghan, whom we half expected to do the dance onto the red carpet and arrive in stag ears, the middle finger to antiquity came in the size of 34mm and in 18k Sedna™ gold. You’ll find it cordoned off in the ‘Ladies Section’ of Omega’s website, which makes it all the more exciting that Keoghan and his stylist, Ilaria Urbinati transgressed beyond boundaries and did something we should’ve been doing a long time ago: sharing the love for diamond dials beyond us girlies.
Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra 150M
It’s a latent approach to teasing out his on-screen character, Oliver Quick, in Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn, who quickly becomes enraptured by the exuberant glamour of society’s upper elite and diamonds are for breakfast. So naturally if you’re going to go against the grain, you may as well do it with 498 diamonds to be exact, and hours marked with marquise-cut red rubies. Maybe next year, he’ll aim for 500 diamonds and archaism will be laughing.
Alongside the world wide web’s latest poster boy, comes the seasoned Hollywood heartthrob, Timothée Chalamet. Less about who he was holding hands with, but more about what was on said hand: a 2013 18k white gold Cartier Crash, in a rhodium-finished case with 150 brilliant-cut diamonds. We’re no strangers to seeing Timmy sport the smaller side of Cartier, with his usual mini Cartier Panthère that often accompanies him both courtside and streetside. Yet this eccentric model, which totally blurs the fringes of watches and jewellery, is a gallant step further, in migrating watch wearers from beyond gendered thresholds, and putting a precedent on total freedom of horological speech.
What does this mean? It means we’re seeing a shift in continuum from last year with the likes of Bad Bunny donning vintage Audemars Piguet cocktail watches, and The Weeknd in vintage Ladies Piaget. It means we’re seeing less aversion, and more embracing that anyone can wear a watch, and there’s never one true owner. Could this year truly mark the turning point for the gendered debate in watchmaking to become louder than ever before? Could it be the year we question the validity of an audience and which gatekeepers get to pick them? Let’s hope the trickle effect from these internet idols will do the fight for neutrality in watch-wearing and that by next year’s Golden Globes, we’ll be spoiled for choice.
