Watches on Screen: A Brief History of Horology in Cinema

A May 4 Entry Point

May 4 has become an unofficial holiday for Star Wars fans, and the date offers a useful pretext to look at how watches and cinema have intersected over the decades. In 2019, Bremont collaborated with Disney and Lucasfilm on a three-watch Star Wars collection. The set comprised a Stormtrooper-themed model, an X-wing-themed model, and an Empire model, all limited editions built on Bremont's existing chronograph platforms. The collection was a relatively recent example of a much older phenomenon, which is the deliberate placement, or genuine adoption, of wristwatches inside the world of film.

The watch on a character's wrist is rarely an accident. Costume designers, prop masters, and in some cases the actors themselves shape these choices. A handful of pairings have entered horological memory because the watch carries narrative weight, technical credibility, or cultural shorthand that goes beyond brand visibility.

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Apollo 13 and the Omega Speedmaster

The Omega Speedmaster Professional is the only watch certified by NASA for spaceflight, having passed the agency's qualification testing in 1965. During the actual Apollo 13 mission in April 1970, the command module's onboard timing systems were compromised after the oxygen tank explosion. The crew used a Speedmaster to time a 14-second engine burn that was critical to the course correction needed to bring the spacecraft home.

Ron Howard's 1995 film Apollo 13 dramatized this scene and brought the watch's role to a far wider audience than the original mission's news coverage ever reached. Omega has produced multiple anniversary editions tied to the mission in the years since, and the "moonwatch" identity remains anchored in that real event rather than in the film itself.

James Bond, From Rolex to Omega

For the first three decades of the Bond franchise, from Dr. No in 1962 through Licence to Kill in 1989, the character wore primarily Rolex Submariners. The reference 6538, with no crown guards, is the piece most closely associated with Sean Connery's early appearances. Beginning with GoldenEye in 1995, Pierce Brosnan's Bond wore an Omega Seamaster Quartz Professional reference 2541.80, a choice made by costume designer Lindy Hemming. Omega has been the Bond watch ever since, across actors and creative teams. The partnership is among the longest-running and most commercially successful in cinema.

Pulp Fiction and the Captain Koons Watch

Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994) contains a monologue delivered by Christopher Walken as Captain Koons, in which a gold wristwatch is described as having survived a Vietnam prisoner-of-war camp through highly uncomfortable concealment. The watch shown in the scene is a vintage gold wristwatch attributed to Lancet, sometimes spelled Lancett. The sequence is one of the most-quoted watch moments in film, and it brought a particular kind of unassuming vintage gold dress watch into the cultural conversation.

Steve McQueen and the Heuer Monaco

Steve McQueen wore a Heuer Monaco reference 1133B during the 1971 film Le Mans, a feature built around the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. The Monaco was already an unusual piece in the early 1970s. It used a square case and was powered by the calibre 11, an automatic chronograph movement. McQueen's choice cemented the Monaco's identity as a racing watch and reinforced Heuer's association with motorsport. Tag Heuer, the brand's modern incarnation, has produced multiple anniversary editions referencing the connection in the decades since.

Hamilton and Christopher Nolan

Hamilton has appeared in several Christopher Nolan films, most notably Interstellar (2014), in which the second hand of a Hamilton Khaki is central to the Murphy plot device, and Tenet (2020). The Hamilton-Nolan partnership stands as a more thoughtful example of product placement, with the watches serving narrative purposes rather than acting as bare brand visibility. The technical functions of a wristwatch, second hands, chronograph timing, and the simple act of marking a moment, fit naturally into Nolan's interest in time as subject matter.

Why These Pairings Endure

The watch-on-screen connection is older than the modern franchise system and predates the explicit sponsorship deals that now shape much of the industry. The most enduring examples are the ones where the watch genuinely belongs to the moment. The Speedmaster appears on Apollo 13 because it had to work. The Monaco appears in Le Mans because McQueen actually wore one to drive. The Captain Koons gold watch holds the scene together because the entire scene was built around it.

Even the Bremont Star Wars collection from 2019 fits that pattern in its own register, a real watchmaker building real chronographs around fictional iconography. May 4 is a useful day to remember that the watch on the wrist is rarely accidental.